Flat Number 3
by Mahanny
Summary: A series of moments that follow the lives of 5 roommates, focusing on Stefan and Caroline. A mixture of comedy, drama, fun and angst. AU. Lots of situations are based on comedies such as New Girl and typical clichés.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER I: The Night We Met**

The doorplate with the big number 3 was there, in front of her as she squinted. Bonnie was trying to open the door, concentrated on the key. Caroline looked at her from the corner of the eye, her lips formed a thin line.

"Need any help?"

"No, I got this" she muttered. "You should know that the door, well, it's hard to open it sometimes and…"

"Let me help you, Bonnie, or this hallway will be my new bedroom and there's no way I'm sleeping with cockroaches around me."

The two of them shoved their shoulders against the door twice, three times, until they finally opened it and, stumbling over Caroline's bags and suitcases, they fell to the ground.

Bonnie pulled away one of the bags. "I have Greece flashbacks."

"But these are only half of my stuff" Caroline realized that one of the wheels of the suitcase was in the other extreme of the room.

"I'm gonna kill—"

"What the hell is going on, Bon?! I'm trying to sleep."

Caroline and Bonnie looked up.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Caroline whispered. Bonnie tried not to laugh.

"Nah, this is just Damon. One of my roommates. It's 2pm, Damon."

"Oh!" Caroline got up fast and walked over to him. "Hi! Bonnie has told me so much about you guys" she offered her hand and Damon shook it with a frown.

"So this is your control freak of a friend, riiiight."

"Huh" Caroline looked at Bonnie, clearly offended. "So, uh… Are you okay with me moving in?"

"He is. Right, Damon?"

Damon stared at all the bags and suitcases for a second and then headed to the kitchen. Caroline and Bonnie exchanged a worried look.

"Look" Caroline started, sitting on one of the stools, "I promise you're not going to regret it. I'm super tidy."

"Caroline, you don't have to say anything. He's the worst when it comes to organization" Bonnie pointed at him with her finger.

"Wait a second" Damon opened his mouth to complain but Bonnie interrupted him.

"And I'm tired of being the only girl here. Living with three guys is exhausting, you know. So he is okay with you moving in, period."

"Listen" Damon raised his hands in surrender, "I don't have any problem with you staying, as long as you pay the rent, of course."

"Makes sense" Caroline said.

"And Enzo, well, he's not going to say no to anything Bonnie suggests, obviously."

"Obviously" Caroline agreed, even if he didn't know Enzo yet.

"But Ste—"

"He'll be fine. We had to deal with her annoying girlfriend for a year, so" Bonnie offered a fake smile.

"I'm just saying, you should've asked him too."

"He's out there, enjoying his trip to Paris before the holidays come to an end. We shouldn't bother him with simple, easy stuff."

Damon chuckled and bit a croissant. Caroline seemed to think for a bit as she tapped her fingers on the table. She cleared her throat with a smile.

"What if I plan a little surprise welcome home party to that… Ste…?"

"Stefan."

"Stefan. You know, that way he'll see how cool I am and he won't oppose to me staying, being the new roommate, being an amazing new friend…"

Bonnie and Damon exchanged a look and then burst into laughter. Caroline frowned. "What?!"

"Trust me, little Stef isn't the kind of guy to whom you'd throw a surprise party" Bonnie explained.

"Oh, come on. Who doesn't like those things?"

"Uhhhh, let me think, uh…" Damon pretended to think as Caroline waited. "Oh, yeah, Stefan."

Caroline rolled her eyes, bored.

"He likes the calm, the tranquillity, the boredom" Damon said.

"It's not that extreme" Bonnie said. "But yeah, he's a writer."

"But we're 21" Caroline said, as if the idea of someone being an introvert at that age was complete madness.

"Actually, he pretends to not like it, but if you'd have seen him drunk, hah. Good times" Damon sighed and stared into the horizon, lost in thought.

Bonnie grabbed Caroline by the arm.

"Let me show you your bedroom."

Caroline opened her mouth in awe when she saw her room, already furnished and decorated just like she liked it.

"I called your mom a few days ago and she helped me with all this."

"Aww, Bonnie!" Caroline jumped on her and hugged her so tightly that Bonnie found it hard to breathe.

"Car—, Caroline."

"Yes, I know you love me. I love you too, so much!" Caroline didn't let go.

"Caroline, yo—, you're… I can't breathe."

"Aw, shut up" Bonnie sighed and waited for her to pull back. "Will Damon help us with my bags?"

"Don't count on it. But, hey. Tell me, how was Europe? Rome? How much pizza did you eat?

Caroline cleared her throat and looked around.

"Cool, it was cool" she simply said. "Cool, cool, cool" she whispered, walking around the room. Bonnie gave her a suspicious look. "So, let's talk about this welcome home party!"

"No parties!" Damon yelled from the kitchen.

* * *

"Came back with supplies! I hope you guys are hungry!"

Bonnie deadass stopped when she saw the mess in the living room.

"Oh, hey, Bonnie!" Caroline peeped out between the balloons. Enzo was blowing up some more.

"Caroline, oh my God!" Bonnie shook her head. "Did you listen to us when we told you Stefan is not fond of… this?"

"It'll be fun!"

Enzo chuckled and Bonnie gave him a murderous look. "I'm just doing this because Stefan's face and reaction will be worth seeing."

"So what time did you say he's supposed to arrive?"

"Eight" Enzo checked the time in his phone. "Which means he'll be here in 1 hour."

"Perfect. The rest of the guests will show up in 30 minutes."

Bonnie looked at Caroline, worried. "Did you just say _the rest of the guests_?"

"Yeah, Enzo was kind enough to show me Stefan's address book to call his friends" Caroline started drawing smiley faces on the balloons and Bonnie widened her eyes, covering her mouth with her hand. "Who has an address book these days, though?" she could not help but scoff.

"This is gonna be a mess" Bonnie looked around, shaking her head.

"I have a speaker in one of my bags" Caroline disappeared in the hallway as she headed to her room. Bonnie dropped on the couch with a thoughtful look.

"What's going on?" Enzo asked.

"It's just… Caroline. She's acting weird."

"Weird?"

"Yes. I mean, she loves parties, she loves to do these things, but… I feel like she's trying to keep herself busy, to be distracted."

"Maybe she just wants to fit in, make sure everyone's okay with her being the new roommate."

"Speaking of, are you sure you're okay with that?"

"Sure I am. You two hadn't seen each other for, how long?"

"Three years."

"Why did she decide to study in Europe?"

Bonnie sighed. "It's a long story."

* * *

"I brought it with me, I know it, I—"

"Caroline, remember the conversation we had a few hours ago in the kitchen?"

Caroline felt his presence at the door, behind her. "Damon, I can't pay attention to you right now. I'm looking for the speaker."

"Listen, you don't have to do this to convince Stefan to accept you, okay? It's not as if we ever really followed Stefan's decisions or instructions. My brother is all broody but deep down he's good, I guess."

She looked over her shoulder. "You two are siblings?"

"Yeah. I'm the cool one."

Caroline scoffed.

"Anyway, why do you do all this?"

"I…" she sighed and turned around to face him with a mask in her hand. "Listen, this is the way I am. I was born this way? Lady Gaga's song?" Damon looked at her in horror and she rolled her eyes, smiling. "I'm too… intense. I like to do things, I always try to offer the best of me."

"Want some advice? A party isn't what my brother would want from you, if you know what I mean" he winked at her and she rolled her eyes again.

Damon fixed his eyes on the mask then, forgetting everything that he was saying or thinking. Caroline sat on the bed, distresses because she could not find the speaker. Damon opened his mouth to say something as he remembered something, a moment from years and years ago. He analyzed Caroline with his eyes and a frown.

"Hah."

"What?"

"Nothing" his lips formed a thin line as he tried not to smile.

"What, Damon?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking that maybe my brother will want someone like you as a roommate after all. I mean, why not?"

"What are you even saying now?"

"And I think you could find him attractive, even if he's a weirdo."

"Do you even remember I'm here, talking to you?"

"You're the kind of girl he might like, and he's the kind of guy that you might want, you know?" he winked at her again.

She was pretty much done with him. "No, I don't know."

"Although, I don't know. He's much shorter than you."

"What?"

"And he dyed his hair. He went for blue."

Caroline shook her head.

"And he has this gigantic pimple in his… you know" Damon looked down and Caroline raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, really?"

Damon tried not to laugh, realizing Caroline was actually believing him. "Yeah, he's gone to so many doctors and specialists, but, nothing. This is why his girlfriend broke up with him."

"Oh" she looked down.

"Anyway, nice mask."

"Thank you" she said, staring at the mask in her hands.

Damon's phone buzzed and he looked at the screen.

"Oh, oh" he said. "I think you're not gonna like this."

"What now?"

"Stefan isn't coming at 8 after all. His flight is delayed and he'll arrive in early-morning hours."

"What?!" Caroline got to her feet, clearly annoyed. "What kind of person arrives late to their party? Like, this disrespect!"

"Um, he has no idea about—"

"Don't you dare defend him, Damon."

"His flight—"

"We're throwing the party. Some of the guests are here already."

She left the room, clearly angry. "Well, okay" Damon picked up the mask and dropped it on the bed.

* * *

Caroline got out of her room and dragged her feet to the kitchen, trying not to step on any of the people who were sleeping on the floor. It was early, too early, especially for someone who had been partying hard until very recent.

She sat on the stool with a bowl of milk and cereals and stared at the darkness that she could see through the windows of the flat. Maybe living there was not that bad after all. Although she would have to make some repairs and changes about the decoration for sure.

She stopped chewing when she heard something, as if someone was trying to push the door. She swallowed quickly and hid behind the wall, trying to think fast. Should she yell Bonnie's name? It looked like someone was trying to break in. Maybe some drunk ass that had heard about the party and wanted to be part of it. But who the hell would arrive so late to a party? Didn't people have a sense of logic or?

She grabbed the first thing she saw, a banana, and got ready for the worst. The door was open and she heard some steps. So she just abandoned her dear wall as secret place and jumped on the new unidentified individual, throwing the banana to their face. The banana hit his eye and he hissed.

"What the—"

"Please don't kill us!"

His good eye followed the direction of the voice and he saw Caroline with another banana in her hand, ready to attack again.

"Some of us want to sleep" a guy mumbled, half asleep, on the floor.

"Bill?" Stefan frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"Welcome home, Stefan."

Caroline widened her eyes, realizing her big mistake, and hid the banana behind her. Wait, that was Stefan? THAT WAS STEFAN? But Damon, he…

She was going to kill him. There was no blue hair, and he was taller than her.

"What's going on in here? Who are all these people?" Stefan looked around.

"Um, I'm… I'm Caroline" she waved her hand, embarrassed. Stefan looked back at her, still rubbing his eye. He finally opened both of them successfully, and looked at her better this time.

"Uh" he checked her out really fast, so fast that she did not even notice. "Caroline?"

"Bonnie's friend. I think she didn't tell you" she bit her lower lip. She was going to kill Bonnie too. "I'm the new roommate."

"Oh" his eyes stopped at her shorts but he looked up quickly. "I didn't—"

"Yeah, I know. Sorry for this, uh… Look, this is the thing. Bonnie, Enzo and Damon were okay with me moving in, but since I didn't know if you'd agree I decided to just throw you a surprise welcome home party, but then you texted Damon to tell him your flight was delayed, so well the guests were already here. Some of your friends, by the way. The others are… I honestly have no idea" she giggled nervously. "I just post it on Facebook and people started to show up."

Stefan was looking at her in shock, his eyes wide, his mouth half open.

"And it became too much, so we couldn't cancel. And, well, I was just having breakfast. Well, something to eat. I'm rambling, right? Yeah, I am rambling, of course I am" Caroline started to ramble so lowly, looking at the floor, that Stefan could not hear what she was saying. "Anyway, uh" she cleared her throat, wanting to be swallowed by the earth immediately. "Sorry for all this, and…" she approached him slowly and Stefan stood still, a little nervous. "Welcome home" Caroline offered him the banana and he took it, not knowing what else to do. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry for throwing you the other one, your eye is kind of red right now. Let's…"

She took his hand and he dropped his bag unconsciously, letting her lead him to the kitchen. She made him sit down and she prepared a plastic bag with ice.

"Uh, hey, this isn't necessary, actual—"

Caroline grabbed him by the chin and put the bag against his eye.

"It was just a banana" he said.

"You never know what story might be behind that banana."

He scoffed, shaking his head, and looked down.

"Um, so… Bonnie's friend?"

"Yeah, from childhood, and high school."

"So best friends, huh?"

"Totally, those kinds of best friends who know everything about each other and are very annoying."

He smiled and Caroline's eyes were set on his mouth for a few seconds. He had a nice smile. He was not what Damon had described at all.

"Thank you" Stefan pulled away the bag and blinked. "How is it?"

"It doesn't look bad" she said and he nodded. "Although you might want me to put some make up to cover it, maybe."

He smiled again.

"I'll think about it."

She nodded.

"How was the flight?"

"Long, very long. And there was this guy complaining about everything next to me, so you can imagine."

"What did he complain about?"

"You know, stuff."

"What stuff?"

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know, Caroline, about a lot of things.

"I'm just saying that sometimes some complaints have a good reason, you know?" she picked up the bag again and put it against his eye a little too fiercely. He made a wince. "I've complained sometimes. Are you saying complaints should be ignored?"

"I'm saying that there are people who complain about the minimal thing."

"Mm."

"What does that _mm_ mean?"

"Nothing" she looked around. Stefan observed her. Who was this girl, seriously?

"I see you're a girl with character."

"Oh, am I?"

"Well, you threw a banana at me."

She looked at him and then shook her head with a little smile on her face.

"This is…" he pointed at the bag. "Burning."

"Oh, sorry" she left the bag on the table again. "Well, I think I should go back to sleep."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should stay here, see if there's more people you can attack with a banana."

She rolled her eyes. "Well" she offered her hand and Stefan gave her a questioning look. "I'm Caroline."

Stefan understood that she was trying to begin again. He wrapped her hand with his and shook it.

"Stefan."

Caroline nodded with a smile.

"Good night, Stefan."

"Night."

She turned around and Stefan followed her with his eyes until she disappeared in the hallway. He cleared his throat immediately and looked at the banana on the table, amused.

His welcome back had been very different to what he was used to, that's certain.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: A Wedding and Cupcakes**

 _October 2017_

Stefan frowned with his eyes still closed while hearing the sound of the wheels of the chair. He couldn't believe this was still happening.

"I'm so done with you."

"I don't know why" Damon said as he span on the chair.

"How many times do I have to tell you—"

"So, do you like her?" Damon said at the same time.

Stefan groaned and turned around on the bed.

"It's a simple question, why are you so scared of giving me an answer?"

Stefan scoffed. "Why would I be scared of that?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

Stefan opened his eyes and stared at the wall. He gave a long, exhausted sigh.

"Damon, stop."

"I'm just curious."

"It's been 2 weeks, I don't even know her."

Damon chuckled and Stefan turned to look at him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Stefan looked at him with a _I don't trust you at all_ look and grabbed a t-shirt right when the girls knocked on the door. It was opened before Stefan could say anything.

"Reunion! Now!" Caroline yelled.

"I love privacy."

"What's going on Barbie?"

"I'm afraid we have…" Bonnie rubbed her forehead, "a situation here."

"It's not just a _situation_ , Bonnie. It's _a_ situation."

"Can't believe this is happening at this hour of the morning."

Caroline gave him a murderous look and Stefan looked back at her with raised eyebrows. "It's 11am in the morning."

"Yeah, and it's Saturday, and I worked yesterday till very late in the nigh—. Wait a sec, is it Saturday?" Stefan took his phone to check the calendar.

"Whatever, we're here to discuss something very important" Caroline caught the guitar next to desk from the corner of her eye and the surprising amount of books in the bookshelf. "Someone's eaten my last cupcake. _And_ this is the third time in 2 weeks, like, what's wrong with you guys?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Are we really discussing this _again_?"

Bonnie pursed her lips, shaking her head and trying not to laugh. "Caroline, they're just cupcakes."

"Those are my favorite cupcakes and I get them once a week because they make me chill after a long week at work. I don't complain about listening to Damon's porn every Thursday night or about Enzo's weird fixation with jogging at 6am in the apartment, or with your somnambulism, Bonnie."

Stefan sighed, staring at the calendar.

"Or with this weirdo's cooking obsessions" Caroline pointed at him.

"Look, blondie, we live in a community. Sharing is loving" Damon said.

"Also, Enzo is working and exercising, so I find weird he'd eat your cupcakes" Bonnie commented. "He's super healthy."

"So, that means it's one of you" Caroline looked at them suspiciously.

"I don't like those girly things" Damon shrugged and Caroline scoffed.

"Yeah, sure" Caroline looked at Bonnie. "Bonnie?"

"Why would I steal your cupcakes? I'd simply ask you for one?"

Caroline folded her arms and looked at the only person that was left with an accusatory face. "Stefan?"

He looked up at her. "What?"

"Have you listened to any of this?"

"I think we have a bigger problem."

"What?" Bonnie asked.

"Um, well… Remember Cathy's wedding?"

"Ohhhhh" Bonnie and Damon said at the same time.

"Who's Cathy?"

"She invited us to her wedding."

"So?"

"It's today, at 6."

"YES! I love weddings, there's tons of food and, well, sex."

Caroline made a wince. "Who even celebrates their wedding in October?"

Bonnie looked at Damon, questioning the intelligence of the guy. "Who cares if it's her wedding? She invited us when you were dating Elena and you aren't anymore."

"You're right, we don't have to—"

"ARE YOU ALL OUT OF YOUR STUPID MINDS?"

Caroline, Stefan and Bonnie jumped at Damon's overreaction and looked at him.

"We're so going, we're not missing a wedding."

"Damon—"

"Well, uh… I'll go to my bedroom, to get some work done and—" Caroline started to turn around.

"Oh, come on, blondie" Damon waved his hand. "You can take Enzo's invitation since he's working and come."

Caroline faced them again super fast with a wide smile. "Oh my God, YES, I love weddings!" she gave Damon a hug and Stefan stared at them for a few seconds, lost in his thoughts. And Damon, of course, realized.

"Down to Earth, Stefan."

Stefan cleared his throat and looked down at the calendar again. "I don't know if it's a good idea. Elena will be there and I'm not in the mood to—"

"Are you going to give your ex the satisfaction to think you're not going to a wedding just because she's there?"

Caroline gave him a questioning look and Stefan looked at her in silence.

"She's right" Damon coughed.

Bonnie nodded at Stefan and he sighed.

Damon grinned. "Actually, I just had a great idea. Why don't you pretend to go as his date?" he asked Caroline.

"Just leave her alone, Damon" Stefan rubbed his face, shaking his head.

"I'll do it" she said. Stefan looked at her with a frown.

"You will?"

"Yeah, why not? I didn't only do a media major, but also a drama one. It'll be fun" she said, although she had just tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear a little bit nervously, something that Bonnie noticed.

"It's settled, then" Damon started to dance and Bonnie, rolling her eyes, got out of the bedroom as he followed her, singing horribly.

Caroline cleared her throat. "So."

"Listen, Caroline" Stefan got out of bed and walked over to the closet and Caroline couldn't help but direct her eyes to his ass, "you don't have to. Damon's just being… you know, Damon."

"It's fine. You think I can't pretend to be someone's girlfriend or what?"

"No, it's just" he looked at her over his shoulder. "I just don't want you to be… uncomfortable with this whole situation."

"Oh, I won't be. I've done something similar before. Actually, worse, I'd say."

Stefan looked at her with a frown and Caroline, realizing she had talked too much, smiled at him.

"It'll be fine. Besides, I need an excuse to attend, you know? Considering I don't know the groom and the bride."

"Well, okay. Just, if you don't want to do it, if you—"

"Stefan, it'll be _easy-peasy_ , relax."

She thumbed up and started walking backwards until she hit the door. Stefan pursed his lips and she got out of the room.

"This is gonna be a disaster."

* * *

"Just tell me if you ate the cupcakes, I won't get mad."

"For the tenth time, Barbie, I didn't. Let's discuss more important things. Like Stefan."

"What about him?"

"Make sure he has a good time" he winked at her.

"Are you saying you want me to have sex with your brother?"

Damon raised his hands. "Hey, you said it, not me."

"What happened to you, really?"

Bonnie and Stefan got out of their bedrooms and the latter couldn't help but throw fast looks at Caroline while she was still arguing with Damon. She looked great. He loosened the knot of his tie.

"Everyone ready? Great, let's go."

Damon and Bonnie got out and Stefan offered Caroline his arm. She pursed her lips but couldn't help the laugh.

"What?"

"Um, nothing" she said, still giggling. "It's just" she cleared her throat. "Sorry, I'll try to behave."

"What? I'm not handsome enough for you?" Stefan faked an offended face and she laughed, shaking her head.

"Shut up" she said, taking his arm, and he smiled.

* * *

Damon looked at the plates with sparkling eyes. "I love prawns. Oh!" he nudged Caroline suddenly. "Elefna."

"What?"

Damon pointed at the girl with his head and Caroline cottoned on to what he meant.

"Hey, Stefan" she said, standing up.

"I'm not going to grab the plate of the canapés again for you, Caro—" he closed his mouth when she sat on his lap and put her arms around his neck. "What are you doing?"

"She's coming" she said with a fake all teeth smile.

"Who are you talking ab—"

"Hey guys, you came" Elena said. "Stefan, hi."

"Oh, hi" Stefan waved his hand. "How's everything?"

"Great, great" she looked at Caroline.

"Hi, I'm Caroline" she offered her hand and Elena shook it with a thin smile.

"Nice to meet you. I didn't know you were dating someone, Stefan."

Stefan opened his mouth to reply but Caroline was faster. "We just started. We're in that bubble period of butterflies and romantic surprises and all of that kind of stuff. Right, Stefan?"

Caroline looked at him and he suddenly realized that he had his arm around her waist with his hand resting on her leg. And that she was super close. And that she smelled fantastic. And that her soft curls were brushing against his neck. He had to fight the impulse to bury his hand in her hair.

"Yeah" he said, a little thrown. He cleared his throat. "Yes."

"Well, I'm… glad for you" Elena said with a fake smile. Caroline returned another of hers. "See you around, guys."

"Byeeeeee!" Caroline waved her hand as Elena walked away.

"You've been amazing" Damon nodded. "Well done."

"And that was the easiest part, actually" she looked at Stefan. "Imagine her face if I had had the time to tell her how incredible the sex is."

"What?"

"What?" she repeated.

"I—, I have to go to the, uh, bathroom."

Caroline sat back on her chair and followed Stefan with her eyes.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Damon grinned. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. I think you did everything right. Ouch! Bonnie!"

"Stop it" she said.

* * *

"In October, like, who would get married in—" Caroline stopped and went backwards. Stefan was sitting on one of the steps of the stairs with a beer in his hand. "Hiding from everyone?"

Stefan looked up over his shoulder and scoffed. He smiled and looked back at his hands again. "Oh, no, just from you."

"Hah, hah" she sat next to him and sighed. "Damon has been looking for you for the past 3 hours."

"He can't live without me."

Caroline looked at him from the corner of her eye. Sometimes she caught herself surprised at discovering new things about Stefan, like his sarcastic comments. "Yeah, I've noticed."

He smiled as he rubbed his neck and Caroline tried to keep her eyes fixed on her shoes. Stefan offered her his beer and she took it to give a sip.

"Is everything all right?"

He frowned. "Yeah, why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. The whole _my ex is here and I have to confront her_ thing. It looks like you haven't moved on completely, yet."

"It's not that, it's just… Weddings, not my thing."

Caroline winced. " _Who_ are you?"

He chuckled and took his beer back, brushing her fingers with the move. She didn't mind the feeling.

"I'm probably overstepping but, what happened?"

"With Elena? She broke up with me. 5 months ago."

Caroline nodded and bit her lip. "I guess that had to hurt."

"I don't know, I mean" he shrugged, "of course it did, but the relationship hadn't been what it used to be for a very long time, and I guess that made us question things. It's just that now… That also makes me question about a thousand of other things I used to believe in, and I don't know if I'm supposed to believe in them anymore, you know?"

"Mm, like what?"

"Well, isn't love supposed to happen at first sight? That's what all the movies and books say."

Caroline scoffed and couldn't help the incredulous tone of her laugh.

"Are you laughing at me?" he pretended to be offended.

"No, no, I just" she laughed again. "How old are you again?"

"You're laughing at me."

"Listen, sometimes love happens at first sight and some others it doesn't. It's that simple."

Stefan watched her carefully and she shrugged, stealing his beer.

"And which option do you lean toward?"

Caroline was surprised at the question and realized that she actually didn't have any idea.

"I don't know."

They remained silent for a couple of minutes, just sharing the beer and laughing at the drunk people that walked behind them. Caroline saw that Elena was walking towards where they were sitting and she practically made him get to his feet.

"Caroline, what—"

"Aw, really?" she said with a cheesy tone of voice as she started to play with the knot of his tie. "You shouldn't have! But I mean, yes, of course we'll go to Greece."

Caroline took off his tie and she put it around her neck playfully. Stefan was so distracted by her that he hadn't even realized what was going on.

"You actually look better without the tie."

"Will you tell me what's going on?"

"Elena just passed by. Didn't you see her?"

"Oh, yes, yeah, I saw her."

"Let's go have a dance" she said, nudging him.

He rubbed his eyes. "Dance?"

"Yes! Let's go" Caroline grabbed his arm and tried to pull him but Stefan didn't move. "Oh, come on. Let's have some fun, granny."

"Nah, I don't think so."

Caroline groaned, looking at the ceiling. "I just want to have a dance with you. Just one. What's wrong with that?"

Stefan made a wince. "Clearly you've never seen me dance, and if you had you wouldn't be asking me this."

Caroline snorted and folded her arms. Stefan was actually tempted to take her hand and lead her to the dance floor when she scrunched her nose up. She could be so childish. He chuckled and she gave him an accusatory look.

"I don't dance" he repeated.

"I'm not taking a no for an answer" she took his hand and even though he opened his mouth to object, he didn't say a word.

Caroline turned to him and let her hand fall on his shoulder. Stefan, shaking his head, sighed and placed his on her waist as he interlaced the fingers of his other hand with hers.

"Happy?" he asked.

"Very" she said.

Stefan's eyes fell to her mouth and she looked down. He slid his hand to the small of her back and pulled her closer unconsciously.

"You aren't that bad. You can improve, but you aren't that bad."

"Hah" he made her spin and then pulled her closer again. "So now that I've accepted to dance with you—"

"I've literally dragged you to the dance floor."

"And that I've delighted you with my amazing dancing skills—"

"You've said 2 minutes ago that you're terrible at dancing."

"What do I get in return?"

Caroline was a little thrown by his question.

"An apologize for accusing me of eating your cupcakes would be nice."

"Mm."

"Because it was totally unfair."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "I guess I can do that."

"But you aren't going to pronounce the words."

"Nope."

He smiled and looked at her freckles this time.

"Maybe Bonnie wasn't that wrong about you" Stefan looked into her eyes. "Maybe you aren't that bad."

"Are you trying to be nice for once?" she was enjoying this.

He winced, "… though the attack with the banana, well."

"You won't let that go, will you?"

Damon was staring at his brother and new roommate from a table and Bonnie noticed.

"You're so enjoying this."

"I am."

"You're weird."

"I am."

"I admit they look cute together and that it'd be actually great if something happened, but… It's only been a couple of weeks."

"And yet I've never seen Stefan look at someone like that."

Bonnie followed the direction of his eyes. They were laughing and… had she just seen Caroline blushing?

Maybe Damon wasn't wrong this time.

* * *

"WAKE UP!"

Enzo opened his eyes suddenly. He had been sleeping on the couch, waiting for them.

"Jesus, what's wrong with you?"

"I can't believe you changed your work schedule to get out of the wedding" Bonnie said.

"I do believe that I was the only clever one to remember the day and change it. Something Stefan would've loved to do, am I right?"

He shrugged. "It was fine, actually."

"I wonder why" Damon murmured. Stefan, the only one who had heard him, closed his eyes, trying not to lose his patience. "Good night, cuties!"

Damon disappeared in the hallway, just like Bonnie and Enzo, who followed him. Caroline gave Stefan a little smile and walked over to the kitchen. He followed her a few seconds later and watched her back. She was sitting on a chair, eating some strawberries.

"Haven't you eaten enough at the wedding?"

Caroline replied with her mouth full of fruit, "so?"

He stood next to her and placed a box of cupcakes in front of her. Caroline looked at it with a frown and swallowed the food.

"Where did you get this from?" she opened the box of cupcakes.

"They're from the wedding. Since you were so ridiculously mad—"

"Excuse me?"

"—about them this morning, I thought to… you know, get some from you."

"So you stole them."

"That's not the way I'd put it."

"Nice" she said, ignoring him. He pursed his lips. "I… Thank you, Stefan. I mean it. It's actually very nice."

He nodded and started to walk towards the hallway, though he stopped and approached her again until he stood behind her.

"I was the one who ate your cupcakes, by the way" he whispered in her ear.

Caroline closed her eyes and pursed her lips as Stefan walked back towards the hallway. "You can't do that."

"Do what?"

"Give me a gift, acting super nice about it, and then confess your crime."

He scoffed, "you eat my stuff all the time."

Caroline followed him. "It's not the same."

"It's exactly the same, Caro—"

The words got lost in the air when Caroline threw a cupcake to his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: Incidents, Cupid and a broken hand**

 _November 2017_

Caroline burst out of her bedroom trying to close her briefcase. She looked at her reflection on the mirror of the hall, trying to make her hair look acceptable.

"Too busy?" Damon asked as he chewed his cereals.

"Oh, you're there" Caroline walked over to them and Stefan looked at her over his shoulder as he was preparing coffee. "More like too late, actually."

Stefan started to pour a cup of coffee. "Where are you going?"

"I have to go meet some girls to bring them home. I'm writing an article and I'm going to interview them, if that's okay."

"Fine to me."

Caroline nodded at Damon. "Stefan?"

"Yeah, no problem" he said, distracted. "Though, how many people are we talking about?"

"Uh, just a couple of girls" she waved, not giving too much importance to it. She started walking backwards. "See you in a couple of hours, _Salvatores_!"

"Caroline, wait!" Stefan said. Caroline peeked into the kitchen from behind the wall with curiosity. "Um, don't leave without having something." Stefan took the coffee pot and Damon raised an eyebrow with a smirk on his face. "How do you like coffee?"

She sighed and sat on a stool. "As black as bitter as my soul."

Stefan scoffed as he poured a cup of coffee for her. "So, pink and sparkly, then?"

She and Stefan exchanged an amused look due to the teasing. Damon had been observing them during the whole thing, entertained.

"Don't we have one of those cups to take it away?" she caught a glimpse of the time in her watch. "I'm super late."

"I'm pretty sure we do" Stefan gave his back to them and looked for a cup in the cupboard.

Damon looked at Caroline from the corner of his eye and caught her with her eyes fixed on the back of his brother.

"Huh."

Caroline jumped. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing" he brought his cup of coffee to his lips.

"Here" Stefan poured the coffee in the plastic cup and handed it to her.

"Thanks" she jumped off the stool. "Bye!"

Once the door was closed, Damon looked at Stefan with a questioning look.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

" _Don't leave without having breakfast_ " he imitated. "Someone looks very concerned about the new roommate."

Stefan rolled his eyes. "You really can be a pain in the ass sometimes, you know that? It was just coffee."

"You never pour me a cup of coffee. On the contrary, you always tell me to do it myself. That speech of having my own hands and that… stuff."

Stefan shook his head. "I was just trying to be polite."

"Uh-huuuuuuh" Damon grinned.

"Whatever."

Stefan turned around, trying not to think about Damon's words and to erase his annoying grin from his mind.

* * *

Caroline looked around and waved her hand to the girls as a sign of invitation. "Come in, come in."

The girls from different nationalities, shapes, appearances, etc., walked into the living room.

"Sit wherever you can and I'll start interviewing you one by one. I'm gonna go get my notebook, just one sec."

Just when Caroline was heading to her bedroom, Stefan opened his door to see what all that noise and voices were about.

"Caroline?"

"Stefan?" Caroline turned to him and looked at him with wide eyes, surprise visible on her face. "What—, what are you doing here?"

"I work at home on Mondays, you know this."

"Right! You do. I do."

Stefan made gesture of stepping into the hallway. "What's all that—"

Caroline, faster than ever, spread out her arms and held the frame of the door with her hands to stop him. Stefan looked at her with a frown and she offered him a fake smile.

"How's your day?"

"It's 10am."

"So? How is it?"

He sighed, frustrated. "Boring, and unproductive."

The sound of the laugh of a girl reached their ears and Caroline swallowed. Stefan looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What's going on there?"

"Nothing! I prom—"

Stefan was about to walk out of his bedroom but Caroline, without thinking, pressed her hands against his chest, pulling him into the room and making him stagger to the point of falling on the floor.

"Carol—", she had fallen on top of him, blocking his hips with her knees and wrapping his wrists with her fingers. "Your hair is in my mouth."

Caroline tried to think quickly about an excuse, looking around, and Stefan watched her with his eyes, getting lost in his thoughts when staring at her freckles, the deep blue of her eyes, and her soft pink lips. The fact that her hips were brushing against his wasn't helping at all to his cause.

And it got worse when his body decided to react to her proximity in a way that shouldn't have.

"What's going on here?" Damon asked with a smirk, showing his face behind the door.

Caroline looked at him over her shoulder. "What are you still doing here?"

"I was about to leave for work but then I've seen all your friends there and have decided to stay."

Stefan peeped out above Caroline's shoulder. "Just like that? You decide to stay home and not go to work as if it was that simple?"

"Yeah, I'm going to call and say I'm sick" he shrugged.

Stefan let his head drop on the floor and sighed. "Jesus Christ."

"Are you guys foreplaying?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Get out, Damon."

He chuckled and walked away, but then Caroline felt something brushing underneath her and looked at Stefan.

"Uh, is that…"

"Listen, it's not—"

"I'm only sitting on—"

"Yeah, Caroline, you're ON me. And I'm a _man_."

"Oh my God" she laughed, trying to sound unaffected. Although she could feel him _completely_ , and, wow. "This is what makes it to you?" The fact that she had made him react like that kind of turned her on too.

Stefan tried to get up and Caroline's skin started to warm up. "I'm not discussing this with you."

"Well, considering I was the one who made your—"

"Nope." Stefan managed, who knows how, to get rid of Caroline and get to his feet. She followed him and wrapped his waist with her arms from behind. Stefan closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.

"Stefan, please! Just don't walk in there. I'm trying to save you a tantrum."

"Excuse me? When have I had a tantrum?"

Caroline snorted. "Well."

"Caroline, no hands."

She realized her hands being around his waist wasn't helping him. "Oh, sorry."

Stefan cleared his throat and, taking his laptop, he got out of his bedroom.

"Great" Caroline knew what was coming.

She followed him 3 seconds later and stood next to him. He was staring at the mess of his living room, invaded with 20 or 25 girls.

"Okay, I get it, you're pissed off."

Stefan saw Damon talking to three girls in a corner as they were eating croissants.

"I'm not pissed off…! Alright, I'm a little pissed off."

"Listen, I promise I'll be as efficient and fast as I can and in a blink of an eye, they'll be gone."

"What? You're not leaving with them?"

"I'm going to interview them here. It's the only place where I—"

"Aha, that's very funny. See, I know you're joking" Stefan looked at her and Caroline gave him nothing but silence. "You're joking, right?"

"Look, this is important to me", she looked down. "I'm trying to give my boss something more important than articles about stupid things that no one cares about. I just want to…" she looked around, "I don't know, make a difference. And I can't do that in my office, because they'll give me a _no_ beforehand, okay?"

Stefan stared at her for a few seconds. Who was this girl?

"What are you writing about?"

"Female friendship and union against sexism."

"Huh" Stefan smiled and tucked a loose lock of her hair behind her ear and she looked at him. "So _you_."

Caroline felt an irrational and stupid fluttering in her stomach. Stefan let out a sigh.

"Okay, but try not to make much noise, please. I really need to work."

Caroline clapped her hands. "You're the best, thank you", she was going to give him a hug, but Stefan stepped back, still covering his down area with his laptop. "Oh, yeah. The incident" she whispered.

"It's a human reaction."

"Of course it is."

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

"We are roommates."

"Really? Since when?"

"And we should talk about these things to, you know, put them behind us."

"What things?"

Caroline scoffed and looked at him with amusement.

"Do I turn you on?"

Stefan laughed nervously and stepped backwards, heading back to his bedroom. "What?"

Caroline gave a step towards him. "Do I turn you on?"

"Of course not" he said with a not very believable face. "I think my phone is ringing, please don't make any noise."

He closed his door behind him and leaned against it, rubbing his face with his hand.

"What's this game you two are playing?"

Caroline jumped and turned to look at Damon.

"I can smell the sexual tension every time you two are around."

"Damon, go to your room and don't bother me until I'm done here, okay?" she pointed at the end of the hallway. He left with fallen shoulders and a sad face.

* * *

"I'm pretty sure there's enough Chinese food for everyone, En—" Bonnie looked around with wide eyes. Her living room was crowded with women. Damon was showing off his biceps in a corner while chatting with some of them. Caroline was sitting with others in a circle on the floor, apparently asking them questions and writing down the answers.

"What is going on?" Enzo asked.

Bonnie closed the door behind them. "I have no idea."

"Bonnie, hey!" Caroline waved at her. "Come here, I need your testimony too."

Bonnie saw the cocktail in her other hand. She didn't need more encouragement than that.

"Here", she put the Chinese food in Enzo's hands. "I need this, it's been a long week."

"It's Monday, Bonnie."

Bonnie didn't listen to him and sat down between Caroline and another girl. Enzo shook his head as Stefan stood next to him.

"Do I want to know how this happened? And, more important, how did you let it?"

Stefan put his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Listen, don't ask, not my fault."

"It's 2pm, and they're drinking. Are we getting old, mate?"

Stefan laughed, shaking his head.

"Damon is making a fool of himself. Those girls are secretly laughing at him."

"Oh, I know" Stefan said. "That's why I didn't stop him."

This time, Enzo was the one to laugh.

"It has something to do with Caroline's job" Stefan said casually. "Speaking of, something, uh…" he rubbed his neck. "Something embarrassing happened to me."

"What?" Enzo had his eyes fixed on Damon, trying not to laugh out loud at how he was embarrassing himself.

"Well, uh" he cleared his throat. "Caroline, she… She fell over me and, you know, I had an—"

"Man!" Enzo looked at Stefan. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I need to talk about it with someone, dude! I need to get it out of my chest and I really need your help here."

"Why the fuck do you need my help with your problem, Stefan? I'm not going to help you to—"

Stefan rubbed his eyes. "I just want to know what I should do with Caroline. We're roommates and I don't want us to be in a weird situation."

"Oh, that."

"What were you thinking?"

"Well, you haven't dated in a while, I just thought maybe you wanted to experiment and—"

Enzo noticed Stefan's annoyed and impatient face and closed his mouth.

"HE WHAT?!"

Bonnie started to laugh uncontrollably and Caroline covered her friend's mouth with her hand.

"Shh!" she giggled too. "It was super traumatic to him, I don't want him to hear us."

Bonnie tried to control herself. "I'm just trying to imagine his face."

"He got so nervous" Caroline looked down at her hands, delivering a slight close-lipped smile. "It was kind of adorable."

Bonnie glanced sideways at her.

"Listen, what you have to do is simple" Enzo explained. "You can't let her think you like her. I mean, as you say, you're roommates, we all are, and we can't ruin that. I don't want her to leave because you're misbehaving, Stefan."

Stefan frowned. "Misbehaving? It was just a human reaction, for God's sake."

Enzo wasn't listening to him. "I've appreciated having to pay less rent so, so much, Stefan. We can't lose a roommate, okay? Besides, Bonnie is very happy with her around."

"You aren't helping at all."

"Just make sure she doesn't think you like her" Enzo nodded. Then, he looked at Stefan very fast. "Because you don't like her, right?"

"What? No, of course not" he said with high-pitched laughter. He cleared his throat. "What should I do, then?"

"Just establish some boundaries, man. And, it'd be a good idea to start dating again, Stefan. Why don't you make an attempt to talk to any of these girls? Meet new people, I don't know."

"Yeah, why not, I can do that."

"Sure you can" Enzo slapped his back.

"Okay, let's do this."

Bonnie cleared her throat.

"What do you mean _adorable_?"

Caroline looked up. Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "It's just a way of talking."

"I think the poor guy just needs to go back to dating. Look at him, he's trying to hit one of your girls."

Caroline followed the direction of Bonnie's eyes towards the kitchen and saw Stefan talking and laughing with one of the girls, indeed.

"That's…" Bonnie read Caroline's notebook. "Lisa, right? Wow, doctor, from Norway.

Caroline stared at them for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. She saw Bonnie watching her carefully and she sat straighter.

"Guess it's time for me to play _Cupid_ " Caroline got to her feet.

"What? Caroline, that's not—"

"I used to play _Cupid_ all the time in high school, Bon."

"Yeah, and how did that turn out?"

"Um, great?"

"I had the worst first date experience of my life, Care."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic."

She walked over to Stefan and Lisa as Bonnie covered her eyes with her hands.

"Hey, guys! Chatting?"

Stefan got startled and turned around.

"Yeah, we were just chatting."

Caroline leaned forward.

"You two look so cute together! Why don't you go out tonight? Have a couple of drinks, get to know each other!"

Stefan gave Caroline a wide-eyed look.

"What are you doing?" he mouthed.

"What do you think, Lisa? He's a writer, this guy here. All sensitive and cute" Caroline pointed at him with her head. Stefan gave her a murderous look. "He hasn't let me read anything, but maybe he'll let you."

"Why not?" Lisa said, suddenly. "If you don't have any other plans, I mean."

Stefan wondered how he'd gotten into this. "No, nothing in my agenda for tonight."

"It's settled, then! Have fun. First we have to finish all my interviews, though, so let's go back to work!"

Caroline looked at Bonnie and thumbed up as she walked over to her.

"Why did you do that?"

"What? I was just trying to help him."

* * *

"SO LET ME GET THIS CLEAR."

Caroline let out an exasperated sigh, started to twirl her pen, and massaged her temple with her other hand. "What now, Damon?"

He sat on a stool opposite hers. "I've heard you've arranged a date for my brother and one of the girls."

"So what?"

"So what?" he repeated, offended. "SO WHAT?"

Caroline closed her eyes. "Stop screaming, Jesus."

"You prohibited me to talk to these girls and you let Stefan go out with them?"

"Did you listen to me at all? Did you actually do as I told and ignored them?"

"Well, no, but that's not the point—"

She rolled her eyes. "It's exactly the point."

"No, blondie, the point is why you want my brother to date anyone."

Caroline looked up and pressed her lips together.

"You like him, clearly" Damon said as if it was obvious. Caroline crinkled her nose, but Damon noticed the trouble she was having maintaining the eye contact with him. "So why throw him to the arms of another?

"Oh, my, God" she said with impatient. "First, you're delirious. And second, I don't like Stefan, he's not my type. Like, really, he's the opposite of my type."

"Keep trying to lie to yourself."

" _Dammit_ " she ran her hands through her hair. "How did I fill the pages of this notebook so fast?" Caroline closed the notebook, frustrated. "I still have to talk to 5 other girls."

Damon looked at her, clearly uninterested and bored.

"So?"

"Huh?"

"Do you a notebook to lend me, Damon?" she said very slowly.

"Oh, no" he laughed. "Ask Stefan, he's the writer."

"Right."

She bit her lower lip, trying to figure out if it was a good idea to bother Stefan again after the day they'd had.

But he was her only opportunity and option, so.

"Stefan?" she looked around in his bedroom, giving steps forward when she suddenly step on something bony, fleshy and, basically, human.

"OH MY GOD!"

Caroline gave a step back very quickly and looked down. Stefan was on the floor, gritting his teeth with his closed eyes.

"Oh, there you are. Why are you on the floor?"

Stefan got to his feet with the fingers of one hand wrapped around the other. He clenched his jaw and looked at her.

"I was doing some exercise, and you just—"

"I need a notebook, do you have one?"

Stefan sighed and took off his headphones. "What?"

"I filled all the pages of my notebook and I need another one. Do you have one?"

Stefan shook his head in disbelief and picked a notebook of his bookshelf.

"Thank you" she smiled. "Wow! What happened to your hand?"

Stefan's hand was bruised and a little swollen. He gaped at her.

"Caroline, you stepped on me. Just a minute ago."

"That was what I stepped on? Whoops, sorry" her mouth straightened. "You really must be hating me today."

He eyed her carefully. "Hate is a strong word."

"Hey, sorry for stepping on your hand."

"Yeah, it's… whatever" he raised his hand to look at it better. "I just have a few extra angles now."

Caroline snorted and bowed her head. "I should probably get you to a hospital."

"What? No, I'm sure it'll go back to normal in a few years."

Caroline rolled her eyes, amused. "Stefan…"

"No, seriously, I don't think it's serious. Besides you still have so much to do, I—"

"Stefan, I'm taking you to the hospital. Your hand looks super bruised and swollen. I might have moved or twisted one of your bones. I'm stronger than what I look."

Stefan was the one looking amused now. "Caroline, please, don't say things like that if you don't want me to laugh at you."

"Hah, hah" she slapped him in the shoulder. He gave a step backwards.

"Easy, easy, I don't want any more bones broken, thank you."

"Come on, I'll take you to the hospital. I'm friends with a doctor, we won't have to wait."

Caroline headed to the door, but then stopped.

"Unless you don't want to, uh, miss your date. With Lisa."

Stefan frowned and Caroline wondered for a second if he actually had already forgotten about it. "Oh, the date. It's fine, um, we can hang out any other day. The hand thing could actually be important, since I write for a living."

"You're right-handed."

"And?"

"I stepped on your left one."

"Oh."

Caroline raised an eyebrow at him and he cleared his throat.

"Still, I should make sure it's fine."

"Well, okay. If you've stopped acting weird, let's go."

* * *

As soon as they walked into the loft after their visit to the hospital, Bonnie, Damon and Enzo gave Stefan a standing ovation, clapping their hands and cheering him on.

"How's our vulnerable patient?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny" Stefan said.

"The doctor put a cast on his hand. Apparently I twisted his wrist."

Bonnie and Enzo flinched, but Damon smiled.

"Nice."

Stefan gave him a murderous look. "Caroline here, though, forgot to mention that her friend doctor is a gynaecologist. So we were sitting there, surrounded by pregnant women in the room."

 _Stefan looked around, realizing that they were actually in the gynaecologist room. All the patients were women, and they were pregnant._

 _"Um, Caroline?"_

 _"Yes?" she didn't look away from her magazine._

 _"Why are we here?"_

 _"Oh, Sophie is a gynaecologist. I didn't mention it?"_

 _"No, you didn't."_

 _"Should I fear for my life? A female invasion in our loft, a little party in the living room, a set up date with me playing Cupid, a physical attack, and now this."_

 _"Caroline, I have a penis."_

 _Caroline pressed her lips together. "Well", she laughed. "Yeah, I noticed this morning."_

 _"Oh my God" Stefan raised his hand to rub his face but then flinched because of the pain._

"So what? She treated you, right? And she gave you painkillers, didn't she? Stop complaining, Mr. _Broody_."

"I'm sorry, what? You made me go through hell today, Caroline."

She rolled her eyes and started to walk over to the kitchen. "Baby girl" she murmured, though everyone was able to hear her.

Stefan tilted his head to one side and his eyes flashed as he watched her walk away, kind of mesmerized. Damon cleared his throat loudly and Stefan stood straighter.

"I—, I'll be in my room."

Enzo turned on the TV and Damon leaned towards Bonnie's ear.

"They're so close to jump each other's bones."

"Ugh, Damon!"

* * *

"Yes?"

Caroline showed her head behind the door. She had her hair up and no make-up. She looked really beautiful.

"Hi, can I come in?"

Stefan swallowed hard, waking up from his thoughts. "Well, at least you've knocked this time."

"I'm a slow learner, it's true. But I learn."

" _Game of Thrones_?"

"You watch?! You might not be that boring after all!"

Stefan shook his head and scoffed. Caroline sat on his bed and took something that she had been hiding under her shirt.

"My way of saying sorry for all the mess I caused."

He took the card and looked at the cartoon.

"It says _Congratulations for the pregnancy_ , Caroline."

She shook with laughter. "I got it at the hospital shop while you were being treated."

Stefan started to shake with laughter too, shaking his head. "You're unbelievable."

The sound of their laughs together made a good harmony and they seemed to notice because they looked into each other's eyes with a little smile still on their faces and the echo of their laughs in their ears. Stefan ran his eyes over her face, from her eyes, through her nose, to her mouth. Caroline swallowed when she felt a tingling in her stomach.

She cleared her throat. "What matters is the interior, though. I wrote an apologize there."

Stefan had to make a great effort to look away from her, but he finally looked down and started reading. " _Dear Mr. Broody, sorry for everything I did to you today. You've put up with so much today in order for me to be able to carry out my work. Thank you for not being an ogre to me and for putting up with me as well. Maybe Bonnie was right. Maybe you aren't that bad either. Who knows, you and I may even become friends_ " he looked at her and she gave him a little smile.

"What do you think?"

"I think that you're still…" he pinched her nose and Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, "8 years old."

"Hah, hah" she mocked, pulling away. "And you… You're actually…" she grabbed a cushion and threw it at his face, "annoying."

Stefan pressed his lips together and closed his eyes. "Again with throwing things at me?"

"It's what you deserve" she headed to the door.

"Hey, Caroline."

She stopped and looked at him.

"Thank you for the card, and for taking me to the hospital."

"Any time."

"Night, _friend_."

Caroline rolled her eyes and smiled before closing the door behind her.

"Friend" he repeated, biting the inside of his mouth.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER IV: _Flaws_ on Christmas

 _December 2017_

The water dripping filled Caroline's ears before she opened her eyes. She covered her ears with her hands, feeling disappointed. Christmas was in 2 days and that's how the weather was going to be?

She dragged her feet to the living room and let her body fall between Damon and Stefan, who were watching the repetition of a basketball match. Caroline crossed her arms, staring at the TV but not paying attention.

Stefan glanced at her and then his eyes were fixed on the TV, but he looked back at Caroline again with a frown at seeing her reluctant face. "Is everything okay?"

Caroline looked at her nails. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

Stefan pressed his lips with a slight frown and, trying not to think too much about it, continued watching the match.

Damon snorted loudly. "Oh, come on! Just score? It's not that hard."

Caroline rolled her eyes. _Boys_. A simple sport match was enough for them to forget about everything else in the world. There was barely light in the room, it was depressing.

"Morning" Bonnie walked into the living room and headed to the kitchen, though not before giving Caroline a cautious look.

Enzo dropped on the armchair next to the couch and kept sleeping. Caroline looked around and sighed dramatically.

Stefan looked at her again. "Just spit it out, Caroline."

"Nothing, nothing" she suddenly realized how Stefan emitted warmth and she got a sudden urge to curl up against him. She closed her eyes and tried to relax and...

Wait, _what_?

She opened her eyes and cleared her throat, sitting straighter. Silenced filled the room again and Caroline simply couldn't take it anymore.

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" she yelled, raising her arms and making Enzo open his eyes in alarm. "This is depressing! Look at that stupid sky!"

Damon pinched his nose. Stefan looked at Caroline, clearly confused.

"I'm sorry, can you explain what's happening?"

"The weather, Stefan!" she insisted. "It's terrible, like, look at those gray clouds and the rain, and, ugh."

"Rain is cool. The sound is relaxing."

Caroline scoffed. "Of course you're a rain lover. It suits you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Damon rubbed his face and chuckled. "Christ."

Caroline looked at him with accusation in her eyes. "Do you have anything to say, Damon?"

"Oh, nothing, blondie" he gave Bonnie, Enzo and Stefan a significant look. Caroline noticed and gave Bonnie a questioning look.

"What's going on?"

Damon grinned. "You're showing a perfect example of you being a—"

"Damon" Bonnie warned. Damon pursed his lips, still smiling.

"What am I missing here?" Caroline asked, tired of Damon's little games. "Enzo?"

"We have this thing called _roommate's flaw_ " he replied, half asleep.

"ENZO!"

Enzo opened his eyes and looked at Bonnie. "What? What's happening? What time is it?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes and continued preparing coffee.

"Oh, I see. You all know about my _flaw_. Well, you guys can tell me, I can take it."

"Care, just let it go" Bonnie said. "Literally all of us have one flaw that the rest talks about. It's a stupid tradition that Damon started when we moved in together."

"I just wanna know what my _flaw_ is."

"It's better not to know" Enzo mumbled, sleepy. "Not knowing is what has made communal living possible. Well, I think."

"Are you telling me none of you know what your _flaw_ is?"

Stefan nodded. "Yep."

"It's a fun way to laugh at you guys" Damon said.

Bonnie scoffed. "That's because you don't know yours."

"This is so unfair. I should know about your _flaws_ , too. I've been living here for 3 months already."

"Fine, which one do you want to know?" Damon asked.

"Enough with the flaws, let's have a quiet, peaceful breakfast" Bonnie said, putting the cups of coffee in a stray. "Please?"

"Bonnie's is being too overprotective with us. We call her _mother hen_."

"EXCUSE ME?"

Caroline laughed. "That makes sense."

Bonnie sat on the arm of Enzo's armchair, clearly offended. "Why am I _mother hen_?"

"You're like a mom to us, always taking care of us" Stefan explained.

"To them, not to me" Enzo said. "I just thought it needed to be clarified."

"I'm not _always_ taking care of you."

"You just prepared everyone's breakfast" Stefan pointed out.

Bonnie looked down at the stray. She opened her mouth to object but no words came out.

"Well, I do it because if I didn't you'd be dead by now" Bonnie scowled.

" _Mother hen_ " Damon repeated.

"Whatever."

"So, what's mine?" Caroline asked again.

"You wouldn't be able to handle it."

"Yes, I would. Do you really think I'd care?"

Stefan couldn't help but look down with a tight-lipped smile. Caroline squinted at him.

He tried to save himself. "Yours isn't that bad."

"Uh, yeah, it is" Damon said. "We all think so."

"Ugh, just tell me you dumbasses."

Stefan chuckled. "Wow."

"You know what? I don't care. I don't care about this stupid _roommate's flaw_ thing. We have more important things to think about, like, what are we going to do with this weather?"

" _Roommate's flaw_ " Damon grinned. Caroline ignored him.

"Maybe we should just, I don't know" Stefan pretended to think, "let the weather do what it's supposed to do. Don't you think?"

"Christmas is in 2 days! How are we going to have a good celebration with this weather?"

No one replied. Instead, everyone looked away in silence. Well, except for Enzo, who was snoring.

"I thought you were going to go see your mom and spend Christmas with her?" Bonnie said.

"I was, but she called me yesterday to tell me that she preferred me to go on New Year's Eve" Caroline shrugged.

"Enzo and I are gonna spend Christmas with his family in London, I'm afraid" Bonnie put a sad face.

"And Stefan and I have a date with my mom's family. They're expecting us" Damon said.

"So, I'm going to spend Christmas alone? First the weather and now this."

"Um," Stefan rubbed his neck. "Why don't you come with us?" Damon looked at him with wide eyes and Caroline frowned. "I mean, New Jersey isn't great but, at least you won't spend Christmas here alone."

Damon raised his eyebrows at his brother but Stefan looked away from him as soon as he noticed what he was implying with his look.

"That's... very sweet of you, Stefan" Caroline gave him a half-smile. "But I don't think it's appropriate and at this point, there aren't probably tickets anyway."

"Yeah, right."

Stefan looked back at his hands and Bonnie and Damon exchanged an amused look.

"Anyway, we'll be back before you can even miss us, Care."

Caroline nodded. "You know what? You're right, and without you guys messing around I can put some order in the loft and who knows, maybe do some redecoration."

Damon grinned at Stefan, who gave him a warning look.

"Damon, don—"

" _Roommate's flaw_."

* * *

Christmas Eve day. Caroline walked out of her room with the most dispirited face in the world. She ran her hand through her hair as she headed to the kitchen and checked her text messages. At least she had all the food for herself.

"He—"

She looked up as soon as she heard _his_ voice. Stefan was staring at her from the kitchen with his mouth slightly open, lost in his thoughts. Caroline looked down, remembering that she had her robe completely open and untied, which showed her underwear.

"Hey" she said with a knot in her throat, tying her robe quickly. Stefan looked away and she saw him swallow. Or hadn't she? She honestly didn't know anymore. "You, uh... You didn't go. I—, I thought your flight was, half an hour ago?"

"It was, but, uh... My boss called me this morning and, well" he cleared his throat and Caroline narrowed her eyes, "he told me I had to send him a paper today and... I knew I wasn't going to be able to work at home, so."

Caroline nodded slowly, a little confused. "That sucks."

"Yeah" he said with a little smile.

"Though it doesn't for me."

"Of course."

"Because now I have someone to spend Christmas with!"

"Hah."

"So now we can decorate the tree!" Caroline clapped her hands, excited.

"Carol—"

"We should go get some Christmas lights, though. You guys have nothing Christmas-y. It's annoying, to be honest."

Stefan chuckled, shaking his head. "Caroline, what part of _I have a paper due_ you don't understand?"

"You can do that tonight after dinner. I'll help you!" Stefan opened his mouth but Caroline grabbed his shirt and pulled from it, jumping from excitement. "Thank you so much for staying, Stefan."

Stefan smiled and stroked her arm up and down slowly. "You're welcome. Though, it was my boss who—"

"Yeah, yeah" Caroline waved her hand. "Doesn't matter."

Caroline smiled widely at him and he ran his eyes over her face with a little smile of his own. She suddenly felt his hand caressing her arm gently and, god, how could he be so soft? She got lost in the deep green of his eyes and didn't release her grip of his shirt. Her head was spinning. Would kissing him be weird? She had wanted to do it for months, she just wanted to find out if he was always this soft and gentle and...

Stefan looked up when he heard the ring bell. Caroline pulled away fast, wondering what the hell she was doing. They were just _friends_ , and roommates, which was even more important. She couldn't screw this up.

"Oh, um" Stefan started walking towards the door. "That must be..."

Caroline frowned. Had he invited someone? They weren't going to be alone? She closed her eyes tightly and pursed her lips. _Caroline, stop_.

"You must be Stefan, right?"

Caroline opened her eyes and frowned again. She walked towards the door fast. "Mom?"

"Care, honey, surprise!" Liz hugged her and Caroline hugged her back, super confused.

"Oh my God, what are you doing here?"

"Well, Stefan called me last night and told me you were feeling a little down, so I decided to come myself!" Liz pulled back and looked at her. "Look at you, you look amazing", she looked at Stefan. "Don't you think I have the perfect daughter? I mean, look at her."

Stefan chuckled and Caroline blushed and covered her face with her hand. "Mom."

"This sweet guy made a change with his ticket so that I could fly."

Caroline looked at Stefan, surprised. He gave her a modest thinned-lip smile. Her skin warmed up at the thought of what he had done for her and her mom.

"Should we start with the Christmas decoration?" Liz walked into her daughter's room to leave her bags. "Caroline loves Christmas."

"Stefan, you shouldn't have, I—, I don't know how to..."

"Hey, it's fine. I saw your face of disappointment the other day and you clearly were sad about not seeing your mom, so... It's fine, really."

"I'll pay you the flight ticket."

"No, you won't."

Liz came back with some Christmas ornaments. "So, should we start?"

* * *

"And then she grabbed the lights of the house of the mayor and threw them on the toilet. I remember how mad his wife was, oh my god..." Liz shook her head and Stefan laughed. "I was forgiven because she was only 8 but... Since that day Kate didn't look at us with a friendly face anymore."

Stefan shook with laughter as Caroline walked out of her room with more ornaments.

"What's so funny?"

"I was just telling Stefan about the mayor's lights situation in 2004 that could've got me fired."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "You were and are the best sheriff in town. You weren't going to be fired."

"Still."

"And can you stop embarrassing me in front of my friends, please? I don't want Stefan to think I'm some kind of crazy person."

Stefan cleared his throat. "Well."

She narrowed her eyes at him and Liz laughed. "Stop being annoying and show me what lights you got."

"Well, uh, that's the thing. I got two types since I didn't know which ones you'd like more."

"I told him you're a little special when it comes to Christmas lights."

Caroline crossed her arms and sighed. "Show me."

Stefan took the two boxes of lights and raised them.

"Little ones, _obviously_ " she said. "You never use big lights for a Christmas tree, Stefan."

"Not everyone knows so much about Christmas like you, Caroline."

Liz and Stefan exchanged an amused look and Caroline noticed it. Since when had they become such good friends? And why were they plotting against her all the time? But she hadn't seen her mom this happy in a while, and partly, she had to thank Stefan for that. She still couldn't believe that he had changed his ticket so that her mom could come and see her.

Liz approached her and leaned towards her ear. "When you stop staring at him, let me know so we can continue with the decoration."

Caroline jumped and looked at her mom. "What?" she let out a nervous laugh and Liz raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm—, I'm _not_ staring at _him_ , okay? I'm _checking_ he's doing a good job with, uh" she cleared her throat, "all the ornaments."

"Uh-huh."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at her mom and grabbed the star she was holding. "I'll put the star on the tree."

"Good."

"Good."

She walked to the tree, but then realized that they didn't have a ladder and that she couldn't reach to the top.

"We have a problem."

"You're too short?" Stefan asked.

"We're almost the same height, shut up."

Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you help her and lift her up, Stefan? She's too proud to ask."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Um, yeah, sure" he dropped the ornament he had in his hand and shook his hands.

"Really, this isn't necessary. It's just a star."

"Caroline, don't be proud" Stefan grinned at her and Caroline made a great effort not to slap his face.

"Fine."

She didn't give any warnings, she just jumped on his back and Stefan staggered.

"Jesus Christ, Caro—" she gripped his shoulder and he winced as she climbed him until she was sitting on his shoulders. Stefan had to find support on the wall with his hand to not wobble again. "Next time I'd really appreciate it if you just told me you're about to physically attack me."

"Weak" she murmured. "Get me closer to the tree."

Stefan gave a step towards the tree, but right when Caroline was going to put the star, he went back. Liz laughed, enjoying the situation and the teasing.

Caroline sighed, exasperated. "Hah, hah, you're so funny, Stefan."

"I know, thanks."

She rolled her eyes as Stefan stepped towards the tree. Caroline went for a second try, but he went backwards one more time.

"I'M SO GONNA KILL YOU, STEFAN."

He shook with laughter and Liz joined him. Caroline pinched him in the neck and he made a wince because of the pain.

"Ouch, ouch" he staggered. "No, please. Your daughter twisted my wrist a month ago, you know? She's savage."

"Trust me, I know."

Caroline was the one to laugh this time, finally placing the star at the top of the tree. "Perfect."

* * *

"That smells SO good."

Stefan smiled.

"Is there anything you can't do? It's kind of annoying."

"Is it?"

Stefan gave her a confident smile and Caroline stared at him as she rested her chin on her hand, watching him cook. He really focused on his task when he cooked; he forgot about the rest of the world. It was... annoyingly sexy.

He was cutting the eggplants when he looked at her. Caroline stood straighter and cleared her throat. "So, uh... Now that our roommates are miles away, are you going to tell me about this _flaws_ thing?"

Stefan giggled. "It's been 2 days and you're still thinking about this?"

"Come on! I deserve to be part of the group, man. Your lives are more fun since I'm here."

He sighed. "You could say that they're more interesting, that's for sure."

She tugged the sleeve of his shirt. "Tell me, tell me, tell me."

"Okay, let me see..." he put the cut eggplants on the grill pan. "We call Enzo _lapdog_. He's always following Bonnie around, being super whipped and he never says no to her."

Caroline laughed. "Does Bonnie know?"

"Oh, of course. She agrees."

She giggled and Stefan smiled, putting the pasta on the pot. "What about Damon's?"

Stefan chuckled. " _Smelly_."

Caroline widened her eyes and opened her mouth. "Ohh, his feet."

He nodded. "Yeah."

"He'd get so mad if he found out."

"Right? I mean, every time we're in the living room and he takes off his shoes, he starts complaining about the smell and accuses everyone but himself. Like, dude, how can't you realize the smell comes from your feet?"

Caroline laughed. "He's unbelievable."

"Tell me about it, I've known him for 23 years."

"Are you the kind of brothers who are close and get along or the kind of brothers who don't give a fuck about the other?"

"The first, I think. Though we've had our ups and downs, like every family" he shrugged.

Caroline nodded. "You must be missing being with them today. You know, your dad, your mom..."

"Our mom died when I was 12. Damon was 15."

Caroline opened her mouth hesitatingly. "I'm—, I'm so sorry, Stefan. I thought—"

"Hey, it's fine" he smiled at her. "Don't worry, it was a long time ago."

"Damon said you were going to spend Christmas with your mom's family, so I thought—"

"Caroline", he looked at her with a calm face. "It's fine. We usually spend the holidays with my aunt and uncle, and my cousins, who are older than us. One of them has a daughter, she's like a niece to me and Damon."

"What about your dad?"

Stefan looked at the meat he was preparing. "He, uh... He left when my mom got sick. They hadn't been getting along for a while anyway, and he had a girlfriend, so he moved in with her, and Damon and I moved in with aunt Ellie when mom died."

Caroline rubbed her forehead. "I'm so sorry I brought this up, Stefan."

"No worries, really. We're fine. My father texts us from time to time, and we've seen him occasionally. But there's no—"

"Father-son bond?"

"Yeah."

Caroline stood next to him and wrapped his shoulders with her arm. Stefan felt her resting her head against his arm. "I'm sorry."

Stefan laughed. "Caroline, I'm serious. I'm totally fine."

She pulled away and looked at him. "How can you be fine? Your dad just... vanished."

Stefan shrugged. "It was a long time ago."

Caroline looked at him from the corner of her eye. So, there they were. Those were Stefan's weaknesses even if he pretended not to care. She knew enough of him already to know that he probably did, but he kept it all inside.

"My dad left us too. I was 18, though."

Stefan looked at her. "What a jerk."

She smiled sadly. "Yeah."

"What happened?"

She looked at Liz, who was still decorating the tree in the living room. "He had been cheating on my mom for years with a colleague. He's gay."

"Oh."

"Which is fine, but I wish he'd just told my mom before marrying her, you know? And well, he could've avoided the cheating. Just tell us and leave if you want, but don't be a cheater?"

Stefan nodded. "Yeah, I get it. I'm sorry."

"We get along now. He and my mom too, though it took them longer" she looked thoughtfully at the food. "Doesn't mean I wasn't fucked up when it happened. It was the reason why I went to Italy. Basically, I got scared and ran away like an idiot."

"I don't think you're an idiot" he said. "I just think people can react to things in different ways. You probably needed some time alone and away from the... drama."

"I guess, but I shouldn't have left my mom here on her own. That was stupid" she shook her head. "But anyway, my point is that even if you're over it in the present, it doesn't mean you aren't still, you know..." she looked at him and he gave her a questioning look. "Hurt."

"I'm not hurt."

Caroline raised her eyebrows. "You're a terrible liar." Stefan opened his mouth to protest but she screamed suddenly. "OH MY GOD, are you making lasagne? I love pasta far more than I'll ever love another human being."

"Among other things."

"I'm so ready to eat all of this, honestly."

"Is a phone what I'm hearing?" Liz asked.

"Oh, yeah it seems like a buzz. It's probably Bonnie calling me to say sorry for the tenth time for having left me alone on Christmas."

Caroline walked into the mess of her bedroom, trying not to step on some homemade ornaments. She started removing the things on her bed until she found the phone. Only it wasn't hers, but Stefan's.

"Hello, Stefan's phone!"

"Oh, hi, who am I speaking to?"

"Stefan's roommate. He's busy right now but I can pass the message if that's okay. Is this about the paper due today?"

"Paper? No, no, he sent everything he had to send last week if I'm correct. There aren't any papers due today."

Caroline frowned. "Oh, sorry, my mistake."

"It's fine. I was just calling to say he has the new calendar in his email already. Could you tell him?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll let him know."

"Thank you. Happy Holidays."

Caroline looked around, trying to understand if what she thought that was happening was actually true. She dropped the phone on the bed again and walked back into the living room. She leaned against the wall, watching him and Liz cook together from the distance.

He had lied. His boss hadn't called him. He didn't have any paper due today. He could've gone to New Jersey with Damon to see his family, but he hadn't. He had decided to stay and he'd made arrangements for her mom to come.

Or maybe it wasn't that deep. Maybe it wasn't about her and he had just decided to stay because he didn't feel like travelling. Maybe he was actually going to work on something but didn't want to give her any explanation.

Maybe she was overthinking.

How could Elena leave him, though? Someone like _him_. He was so caring, so warm, so...

So like the kind of guy that she used to dream about when she was 16.

She realized that she was smiling like an idiot and looked away from him. _Stop, you DON'T like him. You don't. You're just grateful to him, that's all_.

* * *

"Your mom is adorable."

Caroline pouted and threw her head back. "I knooooow, she's just so cute. I want to adopt her."

Stefan giggled. They were on the couch, facing each other as they drank a glass of wine. Caroline had put her hair up after the delicious dinner and Stefan had part of shirt out of place. Liz had announced she was going to bed an hour ago.

"I can't believe you stole Bonnie's bear when you were kids" Stefan said, shaking his head. Caroline laughed and rolled her eyes. "You stole it and you buried it in the woods. What kind of person does that?"

"I do."

"I should be careful with my stuff from now on."

"You do that."

They laughed in unison and Stefan let out a sigh while watching her carefully. Caroline took the glass to her lips, giving an amused look in return.

Stefan looked around. "I think we managed to save Christmas this year."

Caroline looked at the candles still burning on the table. The rest of the lights were off. Their voices were little whispers in the darkness. It felt cozy and intimate.

"So, now that we're finally alone..." Stefan looked into her eyes at hearing those words and lifted his chin with steady eye contact and raised eyebrows. "Can you tell me once and for all about my _flaw_?"

Stefan looked down with a little but weird smile. "Ah, that."

"Wait, no. Actually, I want to know yours first."

"Mine?" Stefan laughed. "I don't actually know my flaw. The one the others talk about, I mean. You should ask Damon, he'll probably tell you."

"Okay, then, what about mine?"

Stefan looked at her for a few seconds and then shook his head.

"Listen, it's not a big deal. And I'm not supposed to tell you, actually. That would be like breaking the rules."

She moved closer to him. "Come on, please."

He froze when he realized how close she was. And she didn't know if it was the alcohol but she could've sworn that he had gasped. "Well, uh..." he rubbed a hand over his face. "Okay, you're a _control freak_."

Caroline scoffed. "A _what_?"

"Control freak" he repeated. "You try to control everything, and you lose it when you can't."

She looked thoughtful. "So that's why you all were laughing when I was complaining about the weather the other day..."

"And the fact that you wanted the sky and the clouds to stop doing their task, yeah."

She covered her eyes with her hand. "Oh my God, I really am a control freak. You're right."

"Hey, it's not that bad."

"It kind of is, if you think about it."

"I think it's cute."

Caroline put her hand down and looked at him in silence. He swallowed and looked at his own hands. She hid her little smile by looking away.

She looked back at him and watched him play with the hairs of his arms, distracted. _Do it, close the distance and just kiss him, you're dying to_.

Caroline tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and rested her head on his shoulder. Stefan looked at her and saw her close her eyes.

"Thank you for today. It's probably the nicest thing someone has done for me, ever."

She released a sigh and he couldn't help but rest his cheek on her head as well. He looked at her hand, wanting to hold it, but opted to close his eyes.

* * *

Stefan blinked several times, trying to open his eyes, when he heard some steps in the room. He rubbed his eyes and suddenly felt someone moving slightly at his side.

Caroline's head was resting on his chest, and he had his arm around her with his hand buried in her hair and spread on her back. Their legs were kind of intertwined a little as well.

They had fallen asleep on the couch last night. His skin felt like fire with her being so close. There was no space between them.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you."

Stefan widened his eyes and followed the direction of the voice. Liz was in the kitchen, getting ready to leave.

"Liz, hey, uh" he cleared his throat and tried to get rid of Caroline's grip a little but she held onto him even more in her sleep. "This isn't—, this isn't what—"

Liz giggled. "It's okay, Stefan. You don't have to explain."

"No, but—" he finally managed to get rid of Caroline's tight grip and walked towards Liz. "We fell asleep last night. We weren't—" he shook his head. "Never mind. You look exhausted. I'll take you to the airport, come on. Did you leave a note or something?"

"Uh huh. You're a good friend to her, Stefan" Liz smiled at him. "I hope someday you can be... more than that, maybe."

"What?" Stefan laughed nervously and rubbed his neck. "No, no, we're just friends. Good friends."

Liz nodded, not believing a word.

"I'm just saying that if you ever want to ask her out, it'd be nice and—"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go."

Liz shook her head, laughing. Stefan glanced over his shoulder before closing the door, catching a glimpse of Caroline moving on the couch. He still could smell the scent of her hair.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER V: Games and Secrets

 _February 2018_

"You _killed_ me!"

"Don't take it personally, I killed everyone!"

Stefan groaned and dropped the remote on the floor.

"I don't like this game anymore."

Caroline scoffed. "You're such a bad loser!"

Damon sighed from the kitchen. "She has a point."

"Wha—, I—, I'm not a loser! I'm just saying we should change the game, we've been playing this for hours."

"Loser" Caroline murmured.

Stefan pressed his lips together for a few seconds, narrowed his eyes at her, and then decided to annoy her. He licked the tip of his finger and put it inside her ear.

Caroline gritted her teeth, annoyed, and shoved his hand away. "Stefan!"

"You deserve it" he said, looking back at the screen.

Caroline suddenly jumped at him and Damon rolled his eyes.

"I'm living with beasts."

"Apologize!"

Caroline chuckled. She was pinned under Stefan's body and weight.

"I'm so not gonna take it back. Just admit you're a loser."

Stefan crossed his arms on top of her and looked at her. "So you're not gonna apologize."

Caroline tried to pull away, unsuccessful. "No, now get off me."

He pretended to be thoughtful and then attacked her. With tickling. Caroline started to kick in the air and her face got red.

"Stefan, st—, STOP!"

"Say sorry."

"I'm... not..." she couldn't stop giggling between words, "going... to apologize."

Someone cleared his throat next to them and they followed the direction of the sound with their eyes. Damon was eating a yogurt, watching them carefully and with raised eyebrows.

Caroline and Stefan seemed to catch the implication of his look and he got off her super fast. She sat straighter on the floor and they looked at Damon as if they were children who had just been told off.

Damon smiled enigmatically and waggled his eyebrows at them before heading to his bedroom. Stefan and Caroline remained on the floor in silence for a few seconds before he got to his feet.

He pointed at his bedroom. "I'm going to, uh, get on with some work."

Caroline nodded and stood up. "Yeah, and I'm going to make something for lunch. I think it's my turn to cook."

"What?"

"What?"

"You're going to cook?" he said, wide-eyed.

"Yes, what?"

"Um, nothing, nothing."

"Well, okay. BONNIE!"

Stefan flinched at the scream as she walked towards the kitchen. He gave her a last look and headed to his bedroom. Bonnie came out of hers just then.

"Hey, Bonnie."

Bonnie smiled at him and headed to the kitchen. She sat on a stool and started eating peanuts.

"What's up?"

"Why are you locked in your room all the time? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm alright. So, what's going on?"

"Well, uh... I need a distraction."

"From what?"

Caroline tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Bonnie raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe it's not a _what_ , but a _who_."

Bonnie widened her eyes.

* * *

Damon jumped at the sound of the door closing. Stefan was looking at him with an annoyed face.

"Where are your manners, little brother?"

"Damon, I need you to stop."

"Stop what? What did I do now?"

"You know perfectly well what you did, like, don't act as if you were all innocent now."

Damon giggled and raised his hands. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Me and Caroline."

"Ohhh, so now there's a _me and Caroline_? Nice."

Stefan rubbed his forehead. "You know that's not what I meant, don't twist my words."

"Why are you trying to resist her so much?"

"I'm not—"

"You clearly have a thing for her, everyone can see that."

"I don't have a thing for—, wait, what do you mean _everyone can see that_?"

"Enzo, Bonnie... Me."

"She's my friend."

"Yeah, well. You stayed here on Christmas. For _your friend._ "

"That was _two months_ ago. Get over it. And I already told you my boss—"

"And you keep finding excuses to spend time with her."

"Besides, even if I stayed, that's what _friends_ do."

"Like, what was that?" Damon scoffed. "You were _on top_ of her. Control yourself, horny man."

"Damon."

"What?"

"Stop."

* * *

"What do you mean _who_?"

"Well, uh..." Caroline was cutting vegetables without even looking at them. "Listen, first, promise me you're not going to give this a lot of importance, because it's nothing _deep_ , okay? It's the opposite of _deep_ , it's something very primitive and, and, human."

"Uh-huh."

"We know Damon's not my type. I mean, he's _me_ but with a penis."

"Yes, and?"

"And Enzo is your boyfriend."

"Um, yeah, I know. I've been dating him for a year."

"Well, and that leaves us with Stefan, because, it's not like I'm going out very often lately. I'm always home, hanging out with you guys, and that basically means that Stefan and I—"

"Oh my God. YOU TWO HAVE HAD SEX?!"

"What? Bonnie, no! Just listen to me."

"Okay, okay."

"He and I have gotten close, we're actually very good friends now and... Let's say that I—" Caroline sighed. "I have needs."

"So you want to have sex with him."

"Oh my God, Bonnie. NO, I don't want to have sex with him. I just mean I want to have sex, with someone. I just want..." she shrugged, "casual sex. It's been a while, you know?"

"I'm going to make this very simple to you. Stefan's single. You're single. Both of you are single. Have casual sex."

Caroline looked at Bonnie for a few seconds with pressed lips.

"What part of _I don't want to have casual sex with Stefan_ you don't understand?"

"Oh! So that's it, then. You don't want to have _casual_ sex with him."

Caroline ran her hands over her face. "No, Bonnie, don't twist my words. I don't want to have any kind of sex with him."

"May I ask why? As I said, you two are single and sharing the same roof and, you know, probably both of you don't want any strings attached. Just casual sex. You just came back from Europe. He broke up with his girlfriend. So on and so forth."

" _Because_ we're friends. I... I don't want to ruin that."

Bonnie watched her carefully and lowered her voice. "Are you saying... implying... it's not that you don't want to, it's just that you can't?"

Caroline opened her mouth, nervousness reflected on her face.

"Hey, _gurls_."

Caroline dropped the knife she was holding, startled. Damon and Stefan were walking towards them.

"How long have you been there?" she asked nervously.

Stefan and Damon exchanged a questioning look. "What?"

"Were you eavesdropping?"

Stefan pointed at the hallway over his shoulder. "We just—"

"We weren't" Damon leaned forward with a smile. "Why? Something we can't know?"

Caroline cleared her throat and looked down. "No."

" _Anyhows_. We were thinking, why don't we all take a break from whatever we're doing and just sit around with some card games and bottles of alcohol, truth or dare and never have I ever rounds..."

"I'm in!" Bonnie exclaimed. "I could use a break. I'm tired of practicing."

"Barbie?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Why not?"

"It's a deal" Damon slapped Stefan's back. "I'm gonna go get some things. Get ready."

"I'll help!"

Bonnie followed Damon, leaving Stefan and Caroline alone. He frowned at her.

"What the hell is that?"

"Vegetables, what's with the overreaction?"

"You never eat vegetables, in fact I don't think I've ever seen you eat anything green apart from lime flavored sweets."

Caroline had no idea why, but the fact that Stefan knew her so well meaning he had paid attention to her multiple times made her incredibly and annoyingly horny. She looked at him, starting to sweat, and then pressed her lips and shut her eyes.

"UGH, Stefan."

He frowned. "What?"

Caroline left the knife on the counter again and walked towards the carpet with a scowl.

"What did just happen?" he said to himself in a whisper. He approached her slowly, but she was making a big effort to have her eyes fixed on the floor. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes" she replied harshly. "Why wouldn't it be?"

He sat next to her. "You're literally avoiding me."

"Stefan" Caroline gritted her teeth. "If I was avoiding you, I wouldn't be here."

"You aren't even looking at me."

"I _am_ looking at you."

Stefan scoffed, sceptical. "You're staring at the floor right now."

"Huh."

"Caroline, what's going on?" he started to poke her with his finger but she didn't look at him. He leaned forward to catch a glimpse of her face. "Caroline?"

"Okay! So we have alcohol, cards, more alcohol, and... Oh, alcohol."

"Let's get started!" Bonnie clapped her hands, excited. Caroline shook her head. Bonnie seemed all chill but deep down she was a walking danger.

She looked around. You know what. She was going to have fun. She just needed to stop thinking about her hormones and needs. This was easy. Not every day they were willing to have fun and get drunk and be... normal people, basically.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Caroline and Bonnie were super drunk already.

Damon and Stefan exchanged a desperate look when they started laughing uncontrollably for the third time.

"I still can't believe you stole all their clothes. All the players had to leave the locker room naked" Bonnie giggled with tears in her eyes.

Caroline gave her glass another sip. "I liked Tyler back then, so" she shrugged, smiling. Stefan looked up, "it was worthy."

"Tyler? Who's this Tyler?" Stefan said with a fake laugh, pretending to laugh along with them.

Bonnie ignored him. "He was _hot_."

Caroline widened her eyes. "He was indeed."

Damon glanced sideways at Stefan with a smirk. Stefan cleared his throat.

"Am I the only one who thinks it's important to know who this _Tyler_ is?" Stefan stuttered a little.

"Stef."

"What?"

Damon patted his back. "Relax, bro."

"I'm relaxed, why would you say that?"

"Anyway, my turn" Bonnie said, sitting straighter. "Never have I ever... gotten married."

"Oh, come on, Bonnie" Stefan groaned. "That's an easy one. No one has gotten married he—"

Caroline gave a secretly sip to her glass and everyone looked at her with an open mouth.

Damon burst into laughter. "What?"

Stefan looked at everyone with darting eyes as Bonnie shook with laughter as well. "Great, Care, just great."

"She's lying, right?" Stefan asked with a nervous laugh.

"Of course she is" Bonnie rolled her eyes. "She just wants to get drunk asap."

Caroline looked down at her glass and offered a tight-lipped smile. "Yeah." She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Guys, I need to say this. I need you to give me advice because I'm super horny and I want casual sex."

Stefan, who was giving a sip to his drink, choked slightly and started coughing. Bonnie was still laughing with tears in her face in her own inner world, and Damon scoffed at Caroline.

"Just bone someone, blondie."

"That's what I want to do, but... It's hard, you know? When you barely have social life and free time, and this and that."

"I have an idea. Have sex."

He was pointing at Caroline and Stefan. They exchanged a look and started laughing.

"With him? Please."

"Yeah, please" Stefan repeated. "I mean, no offense, but you aren't my type."

"And you aren't mine."

"Sure" Damon whispered before taking a sip.

"So what?" Bonnie asked suddenly, startling the others. "If you just want casual sex, that shouldn't be a problem". She pointed at Caroline. "You're horny and want sex". She pointed at Stefan. "You haven't got laid in months, for God sake. We all know you could use some fun. And I mean bed fun, sex fun."

Stefan rubbed his eyes. "Bonnie..."

"Casual means _casual_. If you two are sure it's not going to mean anything, then why don't you just... do it?"

"I agree with Bon in this one."

"No strings attached, no feelings or emotions involved. Just crazy, fun sex" Bonnie winked at them. Caroline averted her eyes and Stefan frowned at Bonnie. "It's a win-win."

"We can't do that" Stefan said suddenly. Caroline frowned with her eyes still on the carpet. "I mean, if we didn't know each other, it'd be fine. But we do and" he swallowed and Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. He looked back at her, a little nervous. "I'm just saying it's an unnecessary risk. It could get weird eventually, and we're friends, so why risk friendship for casual sex that isn't going to lead anywhere?"

Bonnie and Damon exchanged a meaningful look and then she spoke. "Is that the real reason?" Stefan and Caroline looked at her. "Or you two are scared that there could actually be feelings and emotions involved?"

Caroline widened her eyes at Bonnie secretly, as if she was sending her signs so that she'd shut up.

Stefan scoffed with a furrowed brow. "What?"

"I'm _boooooooooooored_ " Damon intervened. "Let's switch game again."

"You can't do that every time you want, Damon!" Bonnie complained.

"And it's my turn, so. I dare Stefan to keep playing, but naked."

Stefan threw his head back and groaned. Caroline and Bonnie were literally searching for drinking games in Bonnie's phone, completely oblivious to everything and to the conversation Damon and Stefan were having.

"Damon, stop being annoying."

"Can't do that, sorry. Okay, I'll be nice. You can put a sock to cover your little friend."

"Gee, thanks, Damon."

"No worries."

"Can I put the sock in my bedroom, at least?"

"Sure, you do that."

Stefan shook his head and headed to his bedroom.

"Kay, I use my card to change the order, by the way" Damon said, putting the card in front of him. "So, it's Bonnie's turn again."

"Nice!"

"That's so unfair!" Caroline complained.

"Stick to the rules of the game, blondie."

"You mean _your_ made-up rules, Damon?"

"Where's Stefan?" Bonnie asked.

Damon smirked at Bonnie. "In his bedroom."

Bonnie nodded, excited. "Okay, I dare Caroline to go find Stefan and tell him he's a dick."

"That's it?" Caroline asked with a frown. "That's easy."

"It is, it is."

"Here I go." Caroline got to her feet, staggering. "Oh my _Gooooood_ , everything's spinning."

"Usually happens when you drink a bottle of gin."

"Shut up."

Caroline disappeared in the hallway.

"They're so gonna kill us" Bonnie said.

* * *

As soon as Caroline opened the door, Stefan froze and the sock he was holding in his hand dropped.

She gasped, seeing him completely. Stefan covered his intimate parts quickly, finally reacting.

"Uh..."

"I'm so sorry" Caroline giggled. She covered her mouth with her hand, her cheeks turning red. "I—, I swear I didn't know that—"

"Damon told you to come, right?"

"It was Bonnie, actually" her eyes were fixed on his body. Her first instinct was to get mad. Mad at him for having that perfect body. Mad at the world because it kept challenging her. But she couldn't. The alcohol in her system didn't let her. She was too drunk. "Um, I've seen your penis."

"Great."

"Great?" she asked.

"A sarcastic _great_."

"It's just a... penis."

"What do you mean it's _just_ a penis? Are you saying it's... small?"

"What?" Caroline scoffed. "Oh my God" she rubbed her forehead. "No, I didn't mean—" she sighed. "Why are we having this conversation?"

"You, uh..." he started walking backwards until he could crouch behind the bed. Caroline pressed her lips, amused. "You've seen it" he finally put on some underwear and stood up again. She couldn't help but look quickly at the bulge and then cursed in her mind. "So, what, uh... What grade?"

Caroline looked into his eyes again, staggering a little. "Are you asking me to give your penis a grade?" she laughed.

"You said it's _just_ a penis, Caroline. I just want to know if you meant it's small or—"

"8.5" she suddenly said. "Probably 9."

They exchanged a silent look.

"Happy?" she asked.

His eyes flashed and she was almost sure that he had just checked her out. She looked down. She wasn't even showing much flesh. She was wearing her pyjamas. Shorts and a random t-shirt. But his eyes on her made her skin flutter.

She was pretty much done.

"You know what?" she said, approaching him clumsily. She almost slipped when she stood next to him and he held her by the arms. Caroline pushed his chest until he hit the wall and she literally pressed her body against his.

And _holy shit_ , she could feel him _so much_.

Stefan gulped, unable to look away from her face.

"Maybe they're right. Maybe we should just... have casual sex."

She looked up at him through her lashes and Stefan caught his breath.

"Wh—, what?"

"It's just sex."

"Caroline I—" he swallowed hard when he felt the tip of her finger running down his chest. "Uh—"

Her fingers reached the sash of his boxers and he clenched his jaw. His pupils were dilated and his breathing had quickened. She bit her lower lip as she smiled, staring at his lips.

"Listen to me" Stefan said with a weak voice. "You're drunk. Every decision you make right now is a bad one."

"I don't care."

She leaned forward but he put his hands on her shoulders to stop her. Caroline opened her eyes and looked at him with a frown.

He pressed his lips and looked down with an apologetic smile.

"I do" he said.

After a few seconds looking into his eyes, she averted her gaze.

"I get it. Your ex" she gave a step back.

"What?"

"You're still into her. It's fine."

"What?" he scoffed. "Believe me, it's not that."

"So you don't think I'm attractive."

" _What_?" he shook his head and ran a hand over his face. "Caroline, have you looked at yourself in the mirror?"

"So what? Attraction is something different to being physically pretty or not. It's about chemistry."

He sighed and put his hand on the top of her head with affection. "You're so drunk."

"Like, I don't know. My boss. He's handsome, you can say. But I'm not attracted to him."

"Caroline, you're _hot_ , okay? _More_ than hot. You're—" he looked at her. "I mean, look at you. And you're amazing. Of course I'd want to—"

She arched a sly brow. He closed his mouth.

"I just can't."

"Can't _what_?"

"Do it like..." he ran his hand through her hair and looked into her eyes, " _this_."

She looked into his eyes intently, caught by surprise.

"Come _ooooooooon_ " Damon groaned and Stefan pulled his hand away quickly. Caroline looked towards the door. Damon was behind it, with Bonnie peering behind him. "It's been 15 minutes and you guys are still dressed. This is disappointing."

"Well, Stefan is basically naked."

"I thought they'd be at it already, though."

"Hey, we're here" Stefan said.

Caroline covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my God, I'm about to—"

"ALERT, ALERT, ALERT" Bonnie yelled like a maniac as Caroline left in a hurry.

"Bon, please. This is the fourth time I tell you. STOP SCREAMING."

"I guess I'm kind of trying to avoid reality and the fact that Enzo's going to be transferred to Europe."

Damon and Stefan looked at her with wide eyes, in shock, and then she left too. Damon looked at his brother.

"What did just happen?"

* * *

Caroline was sure about two things.

The first one was that she had drunk way too much last night. Like, she hadn't drunk that amount of alcohol since her college graduation, for real.

The second one is that she had seen Stefan's penis during her _getting drunk_ breakdown.

The rest was blurred or erased, honestly. She had spent one of the worst nights ever. She was pretty sure that Damon had placed a glass of water on her bedside table during the night.

She sat straight on her bed and massaged her temples.

"I'm gonna die."

Okay, but, was it going to be weird that she had seen Stefan completely naked? They were roommates, they were probably going to be roommates for a long time.

Maybe she had to make things be even to, you know, avoid weird and uncomfortable situations. Besides, it just was _skin_.

She undressed and grabbed her dressing gown.

"What are you doing?"

Caroline, who had been about to knock on Stefan's door, jumped and turned around. He was there, dressed. What time was it, anyway? She tightened the tie of her gown nervously.

"Stefan, hey" she swallowed. "I was just—", she sighed. "Okay, listen. I was going to show you..." she pointed at her body and he raised an eyebrow. "Everything. To be even, to avoid weird situations."

Stefan scoffed and ran a hand over his face. "Caroline..."

"What?"

"You don't have to, okay?" he rubbed his neck. "Wait, so you... you remember what happened last night?"

"You mean me seeing your... penis?" she pressed her lips. "Yeah. Hard to forget."

Stefan arched a brow.

"I mean—, not because—, I just meant that it was awkward."

He nodded slowly. "So... That's it?"

"Um, yeah, why? Please don't tell me I did something embarrassing."

"No, no. You didn't."

"Thank God."

Stefan pointed at the kitchen with his head. "I'm afraid we have bigger problems."

"What now?"

"Well, for starters, your veggies have gotten rotten."

"It's fine, I wasn't going to eat them anyway."

Stefan smiled. "Of course. And second, Bonnie's not going through a good moment right now."

Caroline looked at the door of Bonnie's bedroom over her shoulder. "What? Why? What happened?"

"She told us last night that Enzo's being transferred to Europe."

"What?" Caroline looked at him with shock. "No, why?"

He shrugged. "She simply said that. They haven't left the bedroom yet."

"I feel awful. I'm a terrible friend."

"Hey, it's fine. You wouldn't have been able to help her last night."

Caroline sighed. "We have to think of something to cheer her up."

"A frog on a unicycle?"

Caroline stared at him and pressed her lips. What the hell. "... No."

"Sorry, bad joke."

Caroline couldn't help but laugh a little. "You're terrible."

"I'm sorry" he repeated, laughing.

* * *

Caroline had her arm around Bonnie. Damon, Stefan and Enzo were in the living room too. It had been two weeks since Bonnie had shared the news about Enzo.

"You sure you have everything?" Stefan asked.

"Yes. Thank you for helping me pack, Caroline."

"No problem, it's my thing."

"We'll see you in a month, right?" Damon said.

"Yeah, I'll be here before you can even miss me."

"Have a safe trip, man. Call us as soon as you land in Madrid."

Enzo nodded. "I will."

"Hey" Caroline whispered to Bonnie. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'll go visit him twice a month. It's not ideal, but it's what it is."

Caroline nodded and stroked Bonnie's arm. "Everything will fine."

"These kinds of situations just show you that you should've enjoyed it more, you know? Everything. We waste so much time overthinking."

"Okay, I have to go" Enzo said. "Bye guys, take care."

He approached Bonnie and they said goodbye with a kiss.

"I'll call you first."

Damon snorted. "Of course he will, _lapdog_."

Stefan and Caroline exchanged an amused look.

"What do you mean?" Enzo frowned. Bonnie laughed.

"Ignore him. Be safe."

"Bye, guys."

Enzo closed the door behind him and the loft got silent.

"Well, I'm going to practice some moves. I need a distraction."

Bonnie disappeared behind her door.

"Do you guys want to have some shots?"

Caroline and Stefan raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? I was just trying to cheer everyone up."

Damon shook his head, disappointed, and went to his bedroom.

"Anyway" Stefan sighed and gave Caroline a little smile. "I'm going to get some work done."

He squeezed her arm tenderly and she opened her mouth, thinking about Bonnie's words. _Don't waste time_.

The last thing she saw was his back before he disappeared in the hallway. She let out a long sigh and ran her hands over her face. Caroline stared at the door for a few seconds. _Don't overthink_.

"Hey, Stefan?"

One, two, three seconds. Five.

He leaned out behind the door, showing his face.

"Yes?"

She gave some hesitant steps towards him. "Uh, can you help me with that computer program I need for work? The one I talked you about."

"Sure, let me take my laptop in case we need it."

He disappeared in his room and the warm and kindness that he emanated made her smile.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hi! First I wanted to thank all of you for always leaving comments, even if it's only 2 or 3 people, I really appreciate it because that's what makes a writer keep writing. Second, I wanted to say that I read and appreciate a lot those reviews coming from guest users as well. It sucks not being able to reply to those of you personally, but thank you so much! Lastly, I got a review from a guest, a Bamon fan, with a complain. Since I can't reply to you personally either, I post my reply and explanation on my Twitter account (twit*er.c*om_ _/msteroline/status/923543986203131904_ _) in case you were from there. I don't know if you'll read this, but I leave it here just in case. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the chapter! Don't hesitate to leave long reviews with your opinion, suggestions, ideas, things you'd like to see, questions, etc. I really love reading them, xo._

* * *

 **CHAPTER VI: Best Friends**

 _May 2018_

It was the third time he had heard her curse in less than fifteen minutes. He sighed and left the book on the bedside table, deciding that it might be a good idea to go and see what was going on.

As soon as he opened the door and walked into the hallway, he smelt and saw smoke in the kitchen.

"Oh my God."

Caroline was trying to grab the fire extractor without success. He stepped in and did it himself. He aimed at the plastic wrapper that was burning as Caroline hid behind him, gripping his shirt and looking over his shoulder.

The flames were gone and Stefan put down the extractor.

"Okay, before you get mad—"

"Caroline" he sighed and rubbed his eyes. "How many times have I told you not to cook on your own? One of our kitchen rules is that you can't be in the kitchen alone. We've talked about this."

"I was hungry! I didn't know if you guys were still up! I didn't want to wake you."

Stefan left the extractor on the floor and took a quick look at the burnt wrapper. He just couldn't believe it.

"How did you manage to burn the pasta wrapper?"

"I hadn't noticed I'd switched on two stove burners, okay? I left the wrapper there and I was paying attention to the quantity of water of the pasta as you told me, so…"

He shook his head and sighed. "Let me help you."

"What? No, just go back to your room."

"It's fine. You can make it up to me by sharing your food. I just saved your life."

Caroline rolled her eyes, but then realized something in him that she hadn't seen him before. "Why are your eyes red?"

"What?"

"Your eyes are red. Wait a second" she widened her eyes. "Were you smoking pot?"

"No, Caroline. I wasn't smoking pot."

"Well, then, what's wrong with you? Have you been crying?"

Stefan started to stir the pasta in silence, avoiding her face. She frowned.

"You were crying! What happened?"

"Nothing, Caroline."

"You can trust me, okay? I can, I don't know, help you, maybe."

"I was just reading."

She stood next to him and fixed her eyes on the pasta. Then, she looked at him. "Um, were you crying because of a book?"

Stefan, exasperated, looked at her. "It was a sad book, okay?!"

Caroline pursed her lips, staring at him. "Oh my God."

"Don't say a word."

Caroline patted his back. "That's so cute."

"You're cute."

Caroline froze and Stefan stared at the pasta without blinking, still.

"What?"

He cleared his throat. "What?"

"I—, I'll get the stuff ready."

"The trays—"

"I know where the trays are, Stefan. I've been living here for eight months."

 _Eight months_ , he thought. He hadn't made a move in _EIGHT MONTHS_. He was an idiot.

"Okay, Stefan. Try not to screw it up again" he murmured to himself.

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in front of the TV with their backs resting against the lower part of the couch and eating their carbonara with bacon pasta.

Stefan scoffed at the movie they were watching and she squinted at him. He noticed her look and pointed to the TV. "That thing of best friends falling in love, it's such a cliché."

"What do you mean it's a cliché?"

"Movies usually use it a lot and if you think about it, it actually doesn't happen so often in real life."

"Stefan, you do realize that the world is gigantic and you can't say that, right? I'm pretty sure it happens" she gave a sip to her glass of water.

"I don't know" he winced. "Friendship and love mixed? If it ends badly when you break up with someone and they're not your best friend, imagine how breaking up with your best friend must be."

"Listen, _asshole_."

"Wow, here we go" he chuckled.

"You say that because your last experience was a mess. And it's never happened to you, so you can't know for sure."

They remained in silence for a few seconds, until Caroline opened her mouth again.

"Why were you with Elena? I just don't get it. If you're going to be with someone, shouldn't you make sure they're the _one_ and your best friend?"

"You know, love doesn't mean the same thing for everyone. Elena and I started dating in high school, so" he shrugged. "We settled for that, I guess."

"I think that's the saddest thing I've ever heard."

Someone rang the bell and they jolted.

"Oh my God" Caroline said in an inaudible whisper. "It's happening."

"What do you mean?"

"The bell rings at 2am, in the middle of the night? While we're watching a movie and the others are sleeping?"

"Damon's probably awa—"

"We're about to get murdered."

Stefan got to his feet. "And I am the writer."

Caroline pulled his shirt. "Stefan, no" she muttered. "I'm not ready to die."

"Caroline, relax."

"Let me grab my baseball bat at least."

"What?"

Caroline disappeared behind the door of her room. Stefan shook his head and walked towards the main door. "Why do you even have a baseball—"

He got quiet when he saw who was in front of him.

"Surprise!"

Lexi jumped on Stefan to hug him tightly. Caroline appeared in the hall with the baseball bat, but stopped when she saw the image.

The new guest returned her look with a frown, looking at the bat.

"Lexi, what are you doing here?"

"It's been a while! I wanted to see you" Lexi tugged his earlobe with affection.

Lexi couldn't look away from Caroline and Stefan followed the direction of her eyes. He pursed his lips when he saw Caroline holding the bat.

"Uh, this is Caroline, our newest roommate. Caroline, this is Lexi, my best friend."

"Oh!" Lexi widened her eyes. "This is _Caroline_."

"Hi" Caroline gave a step forward to shake her hand. "I'm so sorry for the bat, I thought you were a serial killer."

"Hey, girl, no worries. Who the hell comes visit at 2am? Totally understand you went for the bat."

"Right?"

Stefan looked at them with a frown.

"Stefan didn't tell me he had a best friend" Caroline leaned in. "He doesn't usually talk about himself too much" she said in a whisper, pointing at Stefan as if he wasn't there or listening to them.

"Trust me, I know" Lexi rolled her eyes. "He's a weirdo. He doesn't open himself too much, it's annoying."

Stefan cleared his throat. "Wouldn't you two like a hot cocoa or a coffee? Anything."

"Sure" Caroline and Lexi said at the same time.

"I was kidding. KIDDING" he sighed. "Lexi, we were watching a movie. Do you want to join us? I know it's kind of late."

"Um, you know what? I should actually go to bed" Caroline said. "Besides, I have to wake up early tomorrow and you should catch up. Nice to meet you, Lexi."

"You too" Lexi waved at her as Caroline walked into her room.

"Let me take this" he took her suitcase. "What—, what do you have here? How long are you staying?"

"Just for a couple of days! Don't sweat."

Stefan closed the door of the room and Lexi sat on his bed and looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"I guess I'm sleeping on the air bed that supposedly was going to be for you when you visited."

"Your guess is right. How's Bonnie? And your brother?"

"They're fine."

"So, are you going to explain to me why you never mentioned you had a new roommate called Caroline?"

"I didn't?"

"Stefan" she crossed her arms. "Bonnie was the one who told me. We've talked so many times, how was it never brought up?"

"I—" he rubbed his neck. "I actually have no idea. I probably just forgot."

Lexi narrowed her eyes at him and he averted his eyes.

"Let's sleep."

* * *

Caroline spread the butter on the bread as Bonnie played with the little puppy on the floor of the kitchen.

"You just found him and brought him here? I mean, I'm not against it. You know I love dogs. Damon won't mind, I think. But Stefan..." she snorted.

"He was there, I couldn't live him there alone."

Bonnie sat on the opposite stool and gave a sip to her coffee as she analyzed Caroline carefully. "Care, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great. So, this Lexi. She and Stefan have been friends for how long?"

"Oh, years. They've known each other since they were kids. Apparently he didn't have friends and was alone the first day of school and she asked him if he wanted to play" Bonnie couldn't help but giggle. "Very Stefan."

"Hm" Caroline spread the jam on the bread. "So, uh, is that what they are? Just friends?" Bonnie looked at her. "Or, you know, the kind of friends who, sometimes..., you know."

Bonnie bit her lower lip, trying not to smile. "That's funny. She asked me the same thing about you."

Caroline frowned, trying not to look bothered. "What?"

"When I told her months ago you'd moved in."

"That's silly" she said with a nervous laugh. "Why would she—"

"They're just friends, Caroline."

"We actually can't be 100% sure, you know? Sometimes best friends cross the line and give it a try."

"Uh-huh, yeah."

The voices of Stefan and Lexi laughing indicated that they had just gotten home.

"You know I've beaten you."

"Um, no, you haven't."

"Bonnie, hey!" Lexi ran towards Bonnie to give her a hug.

"What the hell is that!?"

Caroline followed the direction of Stefan's eyes. "It's, uh... It's a dog."

"Yes, I know what it is! What I want to know is why it's in our kitchen?"

She sighed and took the puppy in her arms. "I couldn't leave him alone, so I kind of adopted him."

"You what?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him, okay? You won't even notice he's here."

Damon, who had just walked into the living room, pointed to the floor. There was poop. "You sure, blondie?"

Stefan raised his eyebrows at Caroline.

"Huh, an accident."

Stefan ran his hand over his face. "We're four people in this loft. And this is our third rule. We can't bring animals to—"

But Caroline was walking towards her room while talking to the puppy as if it was a baby. Stefan pursed his lips and put his hands on his hips. Bonnie and Lexi were laughing and he turned to them.

"She always does that."

"She's cute" Lexi said.

"Ho, ho, ho" Damon sat next to Bonnie. "Looks like you have a rival, Stefan."

Stefan rolled his eyes and looked at Caroline's door. "Something's up. She's acting weird."

"I think she's being as crazy as usual" Damon shrugged.

"No, I think Stefan's right. She's..., I don't know. She seems distracted."

"Damon, clean that poop. We know you're good at it."

Damon looked at Lexi from the corner of his eye, annoyed.

"Bonnie, why don't you make pancakes? Pancakes can cheer up everyone. Even this _emo_ guy, here" she pointed at Stefan.

"You're right" Bonnie said, jumping off the stool.

"Stefan, why don't you—"

Stefan pointed to Caroline's door. "I'm gonna go talk to her, guys."

Lexi smiled as she saw his friend making a move.

* * *

"Knock, knock."

Caroline looked at the door. Stefan was behind it.

"Can I walk into Caroline Forbes's hidden place?"

"Sure."

Stefan shut the door behind him and crossed his arms as he watched her play with the puppy. It was... endearing.

 _Dammit. Don't, Stefan. Pets aren't allowed in the loft._

"So..." he sat on the bed, in front of her. "First the cooking, then the dog... Is everything okay?"

"Yeah" she rubbed the puppy behind his ear.

Stefan frowned and watched her carefully for a few seconds. Caroline was looking down, avoiding his eyes. He put a finger under her chin and made her look at him. "Hey" he said with a softer tone. "Tell me."

Caroline sighed. "I, uh—. I've been fired."

Stefan looked at her in silence, surprised. "Wait, what?"

"My boss called me yesterday and told me I shouldn't have published that article without his approval and blah, blah, blah. According to him I'm too revolutionary with my feminist ideas."

"What the—. Well, let me tell you that your boss is a dick, and a complete idiot."

"Thanks, I agree."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to, but... Lexi arrived and I didn't want to ruin your night, you know? Your best friend visits you after months of no seeing each other and I'm going to rant about my jobless situation? I think no."

"Caroline, there wasn't any rush, you know. You could've told me."

"I'm sorry" she sighed. "I guess I didn't want to worry any of you. It's something I have to fix and—. Stop with that face."

"What face?"

"The _I pity you_ face, Stefan."

"I'm not putting that face!"

"Yes, you are. You're putting it right now."

Stefan sighed. "Listen, we just have to get you a new job."

"No, listen. Don't worry about me, if I can't find a job and can't pay the rent, I'll go back to my mom's, so—"

"You're not leaving" he said very fast. She frowned. "I mean, do you know how hard is it to find a kind of _okay_ roommate?"

She offered him a light smile.

"Don't worry, I'll help you find something, okay?"

Caroline's phone buzzed and she took it quickly. "Actually, I've subscribed to this job app and... Oh, look! There's a last-minute offer for tonight!"

"For tonight?"

"Bartender who's offered the double since they haven't been able to find anyone yet" she showed him the ad.

"Caroline, I don't think that's—"

"The only problem is that they need two people" she bit her lower lip and looked at him.

"Are you sure this is what you want? I mean..."

"Damon!"

Five seconds later, Damon showed his head behind the door. "What's up, blondie?"

"There's this ad for tonight. They're looking for two bartenders for a party. Can you come with me?"

Damon looked at her, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Please?"

"Listen, I love bars, I love alcohol, and I love parties. Hell, I work in a bar. But pouring shots for drunk people tonight, my free day... Besides, my contract doesn't let me work in other bars."

Caroline snorted and waved her hand to make him go away. She looked into Stefan's eyes.

"Please?"

"Wha—? Caroline, me? As a bartender? ME?"

"I know it's not your kind of thing, but _please_? I'll make it up to you, I promise. I'll watch one of those aliens movie with you."

"Caroline, there's no way I'm going to be a bartender toni—"

"Stefan, _please_."

He looked at the way she was staring at him and sighed. He snorted and dropped his face on his hands.

"You owe me one."

"OH MY GOD!" she jumped on him and started to give him a lot of cheek kisses. "Thank you so much, Stefan."

She pulled back and let out a long breathe.

"I really don't know what I'd without you."

Stefan shook his head and looked down, his heart beating fast due to her recent proximity. He still could feel her lips on his skin, burning.

"How are we naming him?"

He looked at the puppy with a defeated face. He really needed to learn how and when to say no to her.

"I don't know. _Goofy_?"

Caroline winced at him and he pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Sorry."

She chuckled. "I thought of _Oreo_ , since he's black and white."

Stefan scoffed and shook his head. "It's... good, I guess."

"It's not good, it's _amazing_."

"Hey, guys" Lexi was behind the door. "Sorry to interrupt. Stefan, should I call Marty, then? He might have plans already, though."

"There's, uh..., change of plan, I'm afraid" he rubbed his neck. "I have to go with Caroline to some job thing."

"Wait, what?" Caroline said. "No way. If you already had plans, I'm not going to let you come with me."

"Caroline, I'm going with you, no discussion" he said. Lexi pressed her lips, trying not to smile. "Besides, we don't know what kind of bar this is."

"Why don't you come to the party?" Caroline asked Lexi. "You can bring Marty and whoever else you want."

"Sounds good to me" Lexi said.

"Lexi..."

But Lexi was already calling their friend.

"Great."

* * *

Caroline stepped out of the fitting room and she froze as soon as she saw Stefan in his bartender uniform. She covered her mouth with her hand.

"Laugh all you want. Take a good and long look, I'm never doing this again in my life."

"I'm sorry, it's just so funny to see you compromising your dignity to help me."

"Laughing at me is a curious way to thank me."

She walked over to him and tightened the knot of his tie. "You look good, actually. Maybe you should've followed Damon's steps."

"First, I always look good" Caroline rolled her eyes at his words with a playful smile. "Second, no, thanks."

"I know I asked you this, but... You don't have to be here, you know? If you want to live, you still can."

"Yeah, well, you need someone right now. And I'm sure as hell not gonna leave you in this state."

Caroline looked at him with an awed, fixed gaze as he kept fixing his tie.

"We're opening in 5, guys. Be ready."

They nodded at the owner of the local.

Minutes later, Caroline and Stefan were behind the bar, pouring drinks nonstop. It was pretty funny to see them. Stefan could be better at cooking, but Caroline was definitely better at playing the role of the bartender.

He was a little annoyed at himself. He wished he could help Caroline some other way. He didn't want to see her behind a bar every night, doing something she didn't like, unless she wanted to.

"You okay if I do the round to serve?"

"WHAT?" she pointed to her ear. The music was too loud.

He got closer to her. "Is it fine if I do the round?"

She nodded. He took advantage of the moment to say hi to Lexi and Marty.

"Hey guys, thanks for coming."

"No problem!" Lexi said. "The party is actually badass. How's Caroline?"

Stefan sighed and looked at her. She was checking her phone in a moment of calm. "She's good at it, but... I don't know."

"Do you mind introducing us, Stefan?" Marty asked. "She looks... nice."

Stefan watched Marty carefully and Lexi looked away, rubbing her forehead.

"Lexi told me about her and, I don't know, she's my type, man. Do you mind? Of course I don't want to go too far or anything, you know? I just want to meet her."

Lexi looked intently at Stefan and even if he looked back at her very quickly, he averted his eyes. Marty looked at them, having noticed their exchange.

"Unless she and you are—"

"No, no" he said quickly. "I just... I mean, sure, I can introduce you two. But I can assure you she'll want to, you know, have a date or anything."

"That's fine. I won't push her to anything she doesn't want."

Stefan, seemingly okay with that, nodded, and gestured him to follow his steps. Lexi shook her head and gave a sip to her beer.

"Hey, Caroline! This is Marty."

"Oh, hi. Stefan's friend, right? Nice to meet you."

Marty smiled at her. "Hi. How's work?"

"Good so far."

"I'll let you to continue."

"Bye!"

Stefan opened another bag of ice. "So, uh... Marty, he, um... He asked me if it's okay if I give you his number and if I give him yours. He wants to know you."

Caroline furrowed her brows. "Oh."

"If you don't want to, I can easily tell him you're not interested."

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she opened a beer. "You think he's not a good guy or..."

"Oh, no. I mean, he's okay" he shrugged. "I met him in college. He's a business guy, but he's not an ass, if that's what you're asking."

They exchanged a silent look.

"Well, he's your friend. Do you want me to... turn him down?"

"Um, it's up to you, really. Your choice."

Caroline looked down. "Give him my number, then."

She took the tray and went to do the second round. Stefan shut his eyes and clenched his jaw.

Lexi rested her elbows on the bar and looked at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Being a moron, and working as a bartender, which I never imagined myself doing."

"And yet you're doing it."

Stefan looked at her in silence.

"Stefan, come on. You and I both know what's going on here."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"When I didn't see you at Christmas, I couldn't believe it."

"Not you too, please."

"Listen, I just need to know. You're my best friend and I don't want to see you hurt. What are your feelings for her?"

Stefan rubbed his forehead. "She's my friend."

"I've never seen you go to these extremes for anyone, Stefan."

"Lexi, really, it's not what you think. Besides, I—"

Stefan frowned and looked over Lexi's shoulder. He could see some guys around Caroline, pretending to play _nice_. But he knew how some men could behave pretty well.

"Give me a sec."

He left fast and Lexi sighed.

"Hey, hey, stop bothering her, okay? She's working."

"Go away, man. We're just having fun."

"Well, then go have fun together, you assholes" Caroline said.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Hey, hey, Caroline" he took her by the shoulders. "Just ignore them, okay? They're not worthy."

"I can take them."

Stefan pressed his lips, amused. "Caroline."

"If she doesn't want to have fun, why would she be dressed like that, then?"

"Excuse me?" Caroline closed her fist and punched him in the face. Everyone winced and wooed. "Ohhhh my God, my hand."

Stefan got closer to her. "Caroline, what the f—"

But the guy, mad, grabbed her arm and pulled him to her. "You're going to—"

"Hey, hey" Stefan stood between him and Caroline and put a hand against his chest. "Just leave her alone, have you heard me?"

"Who are you? Her protector?"

Caroline raised her eyebrows and gave a step forward, but she got stopped by Stefan's stretched arm. "No, he's not, dickhead."

"Just leave, man. She didn't ask for your harassment. You're being a dick."

Lexi and Marty just arrived to the circle of people.

"If I say I want _her_ , I'm going to have _he_ —"

He couldn't finish the sentence, he got silenced by a second punch. This time, Stefan's.

"Stefan, hey, let's go" Caroline tugged his sleeve. "Please."

"What's going on here?" the owner of the local had also heard the chaos. "You two, my office. Now."

Caroline and Stefan left the office 10 minutes later.

"Caroline, hey..."

She sat on a box. "This is a mess."

"Hey, listen" he crouched in front of her. "Let's just... leave. Look, I've watched you all night. And you're good at this, but it doesn't mean this has to be your future. Do you really like this?"

Caroline massaged her temples. "It doesn't matter if I don't like it, Stefan. I need the money. I have to pay the rent somehow."

"Yeah, but at what cost, huh?"

She remained silent and looked down.

"I honestly don't like to see a bunch of assholes around you and having... those thoughts."

"I can take them" she repeated.

He smiled. "You almost got us killed out there."

She laughed lightly. "You didn't have to punch him, you know?"

"I think I had. What a dick."

"Thank you for defending me" she said. "I mean, it's not that I can't protect myself..."

"I know."

"... But it's nice to have a friend who fights for you too."

Stefan nodded. "Now, can we go, please?"

"Stefan, I can't."

He threw his head back and groaned. He got to his feet and put his hands on his hips.

"Caroline, you're a journalist, okay? This isn't your place."

"Um, _duh_ , I know that. Thanks for the info."

"What I mean is that right now you're feeling a little down because of firing, and you're rejecting the idea of looking for a job that you actually like."

Caroline frowned.

"Do you want a compliment?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Well, I'm going to give you one anyway. I read your articles, okay? I..." he ran a hand through his hair. "I bought the subscription on Internet and I read them every week. You're good, way too good to let a firing make you give up."

"You read them? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You wouldn't have let me live and get away with it."

She laughed and walked towards him. "Stefan, listen, that's very sweet, but... I have to do this. I need the money."

Stefan gave her an exasperated look. "Why are you giving up on yourself?"

She suddenly became irritated. "Wh—, I'm not giving up on myself, okay?"

"Yes, you are. Look, I'm leaving. Do whatever you want."

He took off the tie and left. She crossed her eyes and clenched her jaw.

"Whatever."

Caroline looked at the crowd from the staff room and sighed. This sucked. She loosed the knot of her tie until she could finally take it off and turned to the door. She stopped suddenly, Stefan was walking towards her.

She cleared her throat. "Coming back?"

"I..." he sighed. "I couldn't leave you here on your own", he saw the tie on the floor and frowned. "Where were you going?"

"I—", she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I was leaving. I was going to look for you."

"Huh."

She walked past him. "Don't be annoying."

He smiled and followed her.

* * *

"We're home!"

Caroline stopped and frowned. No Bonnie watching TV a Saturday night? No Damon in the kitchen eating everyone else's food?

"Guys?"

"Let's not provoke them. Maybe we're lucky and they're sleeping" Stefan said.

"Hey, if Damon's sleeping, we could paint his face or something."

Caroline nodded, excited. "That sounds fun. Gee, Stefan, I wish you invited her more often."

"And let you two plot against me? No, thanks" he looked around. "Why are the glass door open?"

Caroline looked at Oreo's bed next to the couch. It was empty. "Oh my God, Oreo!"

She ran towards the terrace and Lexi gave Stefan a questioning look.

"Oreo?"

"The puppy she brought home, she named him Oreo."

Lexi giggled.

"Can you tell Damon and Bonnie to help us?"

"Sure."

Stefan followed Caroline and just when he stepped into the terrace, the wind shut the glass window.

"Great" Stefan murmured. "Lexi!" he banged the door, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Oreo?"

He turned to Caroline, who was trying to find the dog with the lantern of her phone. She looked very distressed.

"Don't worry, he probably hasn't left the loft."

"God, this year has been the worst!"

"It's only May."

"What kind of person am I? I can't even take care of a dog."

Stefan furrowed his brow.

"So then, how am I supposed to take care of myself and get a new job? This is stupid."

"What does that have to—"

"I shouldn't even think about having kids someday. They'd probably starve to death."

Stefan widened his eyes and grabbed her by the shoulders to turn her to him. "Hey, Caroline."

"What?"

"Breathe."

She looked at the edge of the terrace. "What if he jumped?"

"I'm pretty sure he didn't, okay?"

"What do you know? You don't even like him."

"Wha—, that's not true."

She crossed her arms. "You said you didn't want dogs in the loft, remember?"

"He said that because he has a childhood trauma about dogs!" Damon yelled from the other side of the glass door. "Our dad made him abandon is dog when he was 7!"

Stefan pursed his lips and put his hands on his hips. Caroline looked at him, impressed. "That's not the point right now" he waved his hand in a dismissive way. "Also, go and find the key to open the door, please."

"We're stuck?"

"Indeed, blondie" Damon took a bite of his croissant. "Oh, by the way, Oreo is with Bonnie."

Caroline massaged her temples. "What a night. I'm in my control freak mode tonight. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You're kind of crazy, but it's fine."

The corners of her mouth twitched. She rested her chin on her hand and looked at the lights and buildings of the city. Stefan stood next to her.

"Look at the stars."

"Don't."

"Look how the shine for you."

She nudged him and released a light laugh. "Stop it!"

He chuckled and sighed.

"I'm sorry the night didn't end like you wanted."

Caroline snorted. "It's fine. You were right, actually."

"Wait a second" he said, faking shock. She rolled her eyes, trying not to smile. "Did you just admit I was right?"

"Don't be annoying."

"Oh, you have no idea. I'm just starting."

Caroline stared intently at the stars and ran a hand through her hair. Stefan watched her, wondering what was in her mind. He got jealous of her hand, touching her hair. He widened his eyes and looked away. Had he really just thought that?

"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

He frowned at the sudden question and tapped his fingers on the stone. He looked around, as if he was trying to look for the answer among the buildings of the city. Then, his look switched to her.

Images of them bonding in his room, of them watching a movie very late in the night, and of them having breakfast together crossed his mind. She lifted her brows, waiting for his answer.

"I—, uh..." he cleared his throat and glanced away. "I have no idea, honestly. At this time, probably in bed. What about you?"

Caroline looked at him, thoughtful. "Here," she rested her head in his arm. "Right here."

Stefan looked down at her and put an arm around her to pull her closer. He closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of her hair. He was so used to it already.

* * *

Stefan felt something wet and rough in his face. He blinked several times and straightened fast.

"What the—"

Oreo was on his chest, and he had been licking his face very thoroughly.

"I let him in" Lexi said as she prepared her suitcase.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for a little longer?" he started to pet Oreo unconsciously.

"I have to go back to work, unfortunately," she looked at the door and after making sure there was no one around, she sat on the bed. She looked intently at him and he gave her a questioning look in return.

"You're about to leave and it looks like you're going to explode if you don't spit it out, so if you have something to say to me—"

"Caroline."

"What about Caroline?"

Lexi gaped at him with wide eyes. "Wow, you really don't see it, do you?"

He glanced away. "See what?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot. You know that, right?"

"Yes, thank you very much."

"Stefan, I'm serious. Please, tell me you're not going to throw away this?"

He scoffed. "There's nothing to throw away."

"Since I'm here you've been following her around like a lost puppy."

He winced. "That's not true."

"You literally worked as a bartender for her."

"So? That's what friends do."

"Remember when I asked you to go with me to that theme park in college?"

"Hey, that's different."

"You're right! One thing is going to a _party_ and another is _working_ as a bartender."

"Lexi is being super annoying, right Oreo?"

" _You_ are annoying. Give yourself a chance, for once? You're always trying to make everyone else happy, but what about you? You've been taking care of your family for years, of this mess of roommates you have. Why don't you just chill and try something that makes you happy?"

"Oh, for God's sake. You're worse than Damon."

"I've never seen you smile so often, I swear. Not even with me."

"What are we talking about?" Caroline just showed her head behind the door.

"Nothing."

Lexi pursed her lips at Stefan's reaction. "We were just saying goodbye."

"WHAT? No! So soon?" Caroline looked around, desperate. "Why don't you invite her to stay longer, jackass?" he shook his head. "You've brought a normal and cool friend for once and you just... let her go?"

"Whatever you say, Caroline."

"I wish I could stay longer," Lexi said. "I'm afraid I have to go back home. Business, job, duties..."

"Ugh."

"I _know_."

"Well, I'm going to miss you," Caroline hugged her tightly and Lexi laughed. She looked at Stefan and thumbed up at him. She mouthed something like _date her_ and he rolled his eyes. "Come back soon, will you? Stefan's a pain in the ass, but I'll be here and we can go shopping next time."

"Sounds like a deal."

"Oreo! What are you doing here?" she walked towards Stefan to take the dog in her arms. She scrunched her nose and ran her eyes over Stefan's face.

"What?"

She got closer and smelt him.

"Are you smelling me? That's cute. What do I smell like?"

"Dog hair."

" _Yikes_. Let's cute."

"Have a safe trip, Lexi! We'll be in touch!" Caroline said as she crossed through the door.

"We will!" she replied. He looked at Stefan. "I'm serious. Ask her out."

* * *

Stefan fell next to Caroline on the couch and he passed her his phone so that she would take a look.

"What?" she asked with her mouth full of food.

"Just... Take a look."

She took his phone and looked at the screen. She almost choked when she saw it.

"What's this?!"

"Job offer. I asked my boss if she knew about any vacant and she sent me this. It's a new project. Only female writers. They're doing interviews and accepting portfolios this week."

"Oh my God" she swallowed the food quickly. "This is amazing."

"So? Do you want me to give you a ride?"

"In that bike of yours? I've asked you a thousand times."

"You've literally asked me three times."

"Same thing."

He sighed. "Yeah, in that bike of mine. Get ready."

He pushed himself up but she gripped his sleeve. "Wait."

He sat back and looked at her, intrigued.

"Thank you, Stefan. You've been such a good friend to me, I don't know how to pay you back."

"Listen, if you let me win at that stupid videogame so Damon stops laughing at me, we'll be even."

She chuckled. "I'm serious. You...," she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and Stefan's eyes got lost in her face. "These past few months, when I moved in... I didn't know I was going to get another best friend, you know?"

He smiled. "Did you just call me _your best friend_?"

Caroline rubbed her forehead, laughing. "Yeah. And, you know, even if you have _lots_ of friends, or best friends... There's only ever going to be one or two people with whom nothing matters. No facades, no fear of humiliation. No pressure to be the best. No nothing."

He couldn't help but look into her eyes. She seemed to really mean it. He'd never seen someone look at him with so much honesty and gratitude.

She took his hand and looked back at him.

"Thank you."

He stared at her in silence for a few seconds, brushing her skin with his thumb gently.

Caroline looked down at their joined hands and thought of how natural it felt. As if his hand had literally been made to hold hers. They fit perfectly well.

She pinched affectionately his chin before getting to her feet and heading to her room. He gulped when he heard the door closing.

Well, he was screwed. He was screwed big time.

Because he had been wrong, completely wrong. His words from days ago came back to haunt him and kick him in the ass. _That thing of best friends falling in love, it's such a cliché. It actually doesn't happen so often in real life._

Who was he kidding. Caroline had become his best friend too. And he had feelings for her, even if he wasn't sure of what they meant. He kept denying in to himself and to others, but he knew the speed his heart reached when he was around her wasn't very normal.

"Shit."


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER VII: Revelations and surprises**

 _July 2018_

Caroline used to expect many sights and weird things every time she arrived home after being out for a while, but what she hadn't expected was to see Stefan looking through the window. He was staring at the sky with fixed eyes and crossed arms.

She opened her mouth but Damon, who was sitting on the couch, waved her unpronounced words off.

"Don't ask."

She fought back a smile. "What's wrong with him? What's happening?"

Stefan tossed a frustrated hand up. "Do you want to heart the long version or the short version?"

Damon's lips pressed together in a thin line.

"Short, I guess."

"Aliens."

Damon couldn't help but snore.

"Aliens" Caroline repeated. "What's the long version?"

"Alien invasion."

"For God's sake" Damon sighed.

"What's he talking about?" she asked as she took off her shoes.

"Stefan believes in aliens."

"What?" Caroline laughed. "I knew he liked the theme, but believing in them?"

"He's just gotten an article about _apparent_ sightings of UFOs today every year" Damon explained.

"That makes sense" Caroline shook her head. She couldn't believe Stefan was the kind of person who believed in aliens, considering all his seriousness and that. She sat next to Damon and stole the beer he had in his hand.

Damon frowned. "Hey!"

"Oh my God" she said, watching Stefan not move. "Go to sleep! It's 3am."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Her mouth quirked. "Is he drunk?" she asked Damon. "Be honest."

"No, blondie. That's just the way he really is. Where were you, by the way?"

"Oh, uh, I was with..." she gave a sip to the beer. "Marty. Date night."

Damon looked at Stefan's back and noticed how he tensed a little. Huh.

"So, how did the date go?"

"It was so awkward" she sighed. Damon saw Stefan turning to them slightly. "I literally had to google ice breakers on my phone so we weren't sitting in silent for the entire meal. And then when he actually talked, he just..."

Damon fought a smile when Stefan sat on the armchair next to them. "He just what?"

"He seems nice, and he's kind of good, I guess."

Stefan bit the inside of his cheek and looked at the sky again from the armchair.

"But?" Damon asked, pushing.

"But," Caroline took a deep breath and Stefan looked at her again. "He's very _business-y_ and, boring. He's too perfect" she face fell into a wince.

"Oh, so, being perfect is a problem?" Stefan asked.

Caroline jolted when she heard Stefan so close. "Creepy much? It's not that it's a problem, but... Look, there are many kinds of perfection, and that kind, the kind of being perfect but without any flaws, is not that something I find... interesting."

"Marty's a good guy."

"I didn't say he's not a good guy. I know he's your friend."

"So you're not going to go out with him again?"

Caroline watched Stefan carefully, wondering if Damon could feel that something was off too. Was this a reaction prompted by this alien invasion thing?

"No, I mean, we're getting to know each other. It's a slow process, I guess."

"Maybe it was the typical awkwardness of the first date" he ventured. "Why don't we go on a double date this Friday?"

Damon's brow furrowed and Stefan's comment threw Caroline for a second.

"Yeah, a double date" he repeated. "Maybe he was intimidated by you and in the presence of friends he can relax."

"Double date with who?"

"Me, of course. And someone else."

Damon rubbed his forehead.

"Oh" Caroline said. "You're... dating someone?"

"We've gone out three or four times."

Caroline's brows lifted. "Since when?"

"Late... May, I think."

She looked at him carefully and thoughtful as he looked away. Damon fought back a long, exasperated sigh.

"Well," she cleared her throat. "Sure, why not? Double date it is."

"Yeah, because that's a great idea" Damon muttered, though Stefan and Caroline ignored him.

"Great."

She shot him a breezy smile. "Perfect."

Caroline pushed herself up to her feet and headed towards the hallway.

"Anyway, where's Bonnie?"

As soon as Damon heard the door closing, he gave Stefan an annoyed look.

"What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?"

"Double date, really? Are you an idiot, Stefan? I just need to know."

"What's the big deal?"

Damon stared at his brother in silence.

"What's gotten into you? Has anything happened?"

"No, why?"

"Well, then who have you been seeing?"

"Uh..." Stefan scratched his chin. "Valerie."

Damon closed his eyes slowly and set his jaw.

"I'm so done with you."

* * *

Caroline and Bonnie were lying on the same couch, each one of them with their heads resting on a pillow. They were giving each other a feet massage while watching TV.

Damon came from the hallway and his face lit up when he saw the girls.

"Are we doing a feet massage round?!"

Bonnie didn't look away from the TV. "Not really, we're just—"

"Damon!"

He had jumped to the middle of the couch, sitting on the girls' stretched legs.

"When's my turn?" he asked excited.

"Never" Bonnie said. "We're having a girls' day. Leave us alone."

His mouth formed a flat line. "Honestly, you all are being so annoying lately. What happened to you? You used to be fun, Bon."

"I _am_ fun!"

"No, you're not."

"Excuse you, but every time you've done something crazy, I've been there. Participating."

"Yeah, but since when you haven't?"

Caroline's eyes veered from Damon and Bonnie. She wondered what Stefan was doing, for he had been in his bedroom all morning. She looked down. He had been acting weird lately, and she didn't know what was going on.

"... So you're saying that if I told you to go to some rave tonight, you'd come with me."

"I mean," Bonnie cleared her throat and looked at Caroline, who shrugged. "Well, yeah, why not?"

"Perfect. Blondie, you can have your weird double date in the loft, then. I'm sure it'll be _so_ fun."

Caroline rolled her eyes at Damon and then averted her gaze. Her thoughts brought up Stefan again, and she wondered what the noises in his room were about.

Her feet moved on her own as the voices of Damon and Bonnie started to become distant in the living room. Caroline stopped in front of Stefan's room and she frowned.

"Uh, what's that?"

There was a big, weird structure made of simple materials such as craft paper, aluminium foil, glass paper and Scotch tape.

Stefan looked over his shoulder. "An anti aliens special craft."

Caroline pressed her lips. "Of course. How stupid of me not to realize you have an anti aliens special craft in your room". His lack of response made her gaze veer skyward. "So, uh, what's that supposed to do?"

"I've read that all these materials put off aliens," he shrugged. "So if you get inside—"

"Got it."

Caroline watched his back for a few seconds and crossed her arms. She gave a step forward, not completely sure if coming forward to ask was a good decision.

"Hey, Stefan?"

He turned to her and she darted her eyes.

"Is everything okay?"

"What do you mean?"

She clenched her jaw and looked at him. "You've been acting weird lately."

He frowned. "Have I?"

She was getting impatience. "Stefan."

"What?"

"What's going on?"

He looked at her in silence, watching her carefully, and she lifted her eyebrows, expectant.

"Nothing."

"Nothing, really?" she asked. "You've been ignoring and avoiding me, and when I talk to you, you act—"

He was the one to lift his eyebrows now. She sighed.

"You're not your usually _Hey, I'm Stefan Salvatore, and I'm super nice to Caroline Forbes because we're friends_."

He couldn't help but smile at the word phrasing. " _Hey, Caroline Forbes, Stefan Salvatore is cool, like always_."

She looked at him with one raised eyebrow and with reluctance.

"I'm serious, everything's fine. It's just..." he bit the inside of his cheek and looked down. "Look, it's just that I've spent too much time inside the loft, and I've gotten used to spending that time with, well, with you."

"And that's... bad?"

"No, it's—, it's not bad, it's just," he took a deep breath and looked at her. "I just need to put some distance and try to socialize outside the loft too, that's all."

Caroline couldn't possibly understand what he was trying to say. Her mind went to the thought that maybe he needed to get away from her even if it was for short amounts of time because... Because things were getting confusing between them? Or maybe that wasn't the reason at all, maybe he just meant he needed to go out more, hang out with his friends and all that.

She cleared her throat. "Okay," she said. "I don't get it, but okay."

Stefan's lips pressed together in a thin line. "I'm just saying things would be much easier if you just—"

Caroline looked up quickly. "If I just what?"

He looked at her in silence, trying to find the correct words. He was about to open his mouth when Damon and Bonnie appeared behind Caroline.

"So Bon-Bon here and I are going to go to this rave and we have to leave in one hour so we're going to get dressed, cute and ready and we'll see you two tomorrow."

"Yeah, have fun in your double date, guys!" Bonnie disappeared and headed to her room.

Stefan and Caroline exchanged a quick look.

"Oh, and, Stef? Remember Katie called me to babysit Kinsey today? Well, I called her to tell her you'd handle it. She'll be here in 30!"

"What?" Stefan couldn't react faster, and Damon ran towards his room. "Damon!"

The only response was the sound of the door closing. Stefan set his jaw and Caroline looked at him one last time before leaving too. He opened his mouth, wanting to stop her, but no words came out.

* * *

Caroline fought back her awakening after a two hours-long nap. She squeezed her pillow and tried to ignore the weeping noise that came from the living room.

But the sobs were unstoppable and she gave up eventually, opening her eyes and looking up.

She dragged her feet to the source of the noise and saw Stefan trying to make a little girl, who probably was 3 or 4 years old, laugh. Caroline crossed her arms and tilted her head to one side, watching the scene.

The girl noticed Caroline's presence and pointed at her. "Pretty."

Stefan looked over his shoulder and Caroline tried to quickly wipe the stupid smile off her face.

"Did we wake you? Sorry."

"It's fine," she waved her hand. "I had to get out of bed already anyway." She walked towards them and smiled at the girl. "So, who's this little bug?"

Stefan picked Kinsey up and held her in his arms. He noticed then that she had finally stopped crying. A miracle. "Caroline, this is Kinsey. Kinsey, this is Caroline."

"Caroline," the girl repeated.

"Yeah, that's me," Caroline smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, Kinsey."

Kinsey giggled and Stefan smiled. Caroline watched Stefan's face for a few seconds, in trance. _Of course_ he was good with kids.

"Uh...," Stefan bit the inside of his cheek. "I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't a life or death situation, but... Can you help us? We're trying to find where Kinsey left her little bear."

"Sure, let's get cracking! I'll go check in—"

"Caroline."

Caroline looked at Kinsey. She was gripping Stefan's shirt neck and looked shy. Stefan couldn't help but smile.

"I think she wants to look with you," he left her on the floor and lowered his voice. "You know, you're a girl, she's a girl... It's kind of a novelty to her. She's always with me or Damon and—"

"Got it," Caroline said. She offered her hand to Kinsey and the girl took it. "Let's find your bear, Kins. What's his name?"

"Stefano."

Caroline looked at Stefan over her shoulder as she headed to the hallway with Kinsey and fought back the mockery. Stefan looked away with a tight-lipped smile and his hands in his pockets. "Such an amazing name, Kinsey."

"I named it Stefano because Stefan gave the bear to me."

"Makes sense."

When Caroline and Kinsey found the bear, which, by the way, had been in Kinsey's backpack all the time, it was time for games and more games, and they ended up playing hide-and-seek.

"But it's so unfair," Stefan complained for the second time, sitting on his bed. Caroline was checking the hallway. "One of us should seek with her."

Caroline sighed. "Stefan, she's having fun. She's the one who wanted to seek alone. It's more fun to her this way. Can you stop whining and just, you know, enjoy? Kinsey's smiling all the time," she saw her in a corner of the living room. "She likes to examine the rooms."

Stefan looked at her back in silence. His gaze ran from her hair to her legs.

"So, uh," Caroline cleared her throat and Stefan looked down at his hands before she looked at him over her shoulder. "Did you tell your date we're having dinner here?"

"Yup. Did you tell Marty?"

"Uh-huh," she said distracted. "Kinsey's coming."

Stefan pushed himself up to his feet, looking around. "Where should we hide?"

"I have no idea. Under your bed?"

"That's such an obvious place, Caroline."

"Well, then think of something! Closet?"

Stefan analyzed his room carefully, hearing Kinsey's clumsy steps towards them at the same time. He suddenly took Caroline's hand and led her to his anti-aliens craft.

"What the hell are you—"

He covered her mouth with his hand and they exchanged a long look as they heard Kinsey approaching. It was very dark inside, except for the minuscule thread of light that came from the crack of the door.

"She's out there," Stefan whispered. He lowered his hand slowly and Caroline swallowed hard.

"And you just decide to get us in this tiny weird thing," she said with weak voice.

He looked at her with an offended expression. "Hey, don't mock my anti-alien craft."

She snorted. "It's just a plastic, hand-made—"

"How dare you say that."

Caroline couldn't help but laugh at the offended tone of his voice. "Well, because it's a plastic—"

He covered her mouth with his hand again. "Nope."

"St...fn...!" she tried to pull his hand away but her complaints turned into a bright giggle and his arms started to shake with laughter too. "You... are... a jerk," she hit his chest playfully and he took her hand just right then.

She looked into his eyes, noticing the quickening of her heartbeat against her chest, and his eyes stopped moving when his sight reached her lips.

"Found you!". They closed their eyes when the door was open and all the light came in. The pull away was instant.

"Yay!" Stefan cheered her. "Maybe we should take a break now, you know? Sleep for a—"

"Story."

"What?"

"Story, Stefan," Caroline clarified, putting a lock of hair behind her ear. "She wants you to read her a story."

"Oh."

Kinsey pointed at Caroline. "You too."

Caroline pursed her lips. All these games and playfulness wasn't helping her case at all. "Yeah, sure, story time."

"Yaaaaaay!"

Fifteen minutes later, Kinsey was lying on the bed, hugging Stefano, and listening to the story that Stefan and Caroline were narrating.

"... the prince kissed Aurora and she suddenly woke up from the curse. And then—"

"What's a kiss?"

Caroline's brows lifted and she shot Stefan a tight smile.

"Well, uh...," he scratched his chin, looking for the words. "A kiss is something that you give someone that you really love," he ventured.

"Like a friend?"

Stefan seemed hesitant and Caroline decided to step in. "Yeah, like a friend."

"That's cute! But, how does someone do a kiss?"

Caroline laughed at the word phrasing and Stefan made a funny wince. "You're too young to worry about that, Kinsey."

"You do it!" she pointed at them.

"What" they said nervously at the same time with a stupid, anxious giggle.

"No, Kinsey, we..." Stefan looked at Caroline quickly and then at her. "We're friends, just friends, we—"

"You said you kiss someone that you love, like a friend."

"But we don't—"

Kinsey interrupted Caroline. "You're friends, right?"

Stefan sighed and he rubbed his forehead. He looked intently at Caroline and her heartbeat sped up for the second time in less than 30 minutes because of him. He wasn't thinking... He wasn't, right?

He pressed his lips against her cheek and she closed her eyes tightly, feeling his breath against her skin. Her stomach fluttered and when he pulled away, she swallowed without looking at him.

"Happy?" he asked Kinsey.

"Yessssss!"

Caroline looked at him then, with realization. Something was happening to her, because she hadn't felt emotions similar to the ones that she was feeling right in that moment for such a very long time. Maybe she had been denying to herself what she knew all along.

Perhaps she felt something that went beyond just friendship for Stefan and she had tried to push those feelings away due to all the circumstances. But keep pushing them away? After all this time? She didn't know if she could do that, or if she wanted to.

He giggled. "She's fallen asleep in a blink of an eye."

She looked at Kinsey. She was completely asleep. "No wonder why, she must be exhausted."

"She's a tough one."

Caroline offered a tight-lipped smile. "Yeah," she looked at her hands. "You're good at this, you know? Taking care of kids, babysitting...," she snorted and he frowned with a vague smile on his lips. "Is there anything you can't do?"

He shook his head, smiling, and Caroline swallowed nervously due to the way her heart jumped. "You're actually good at it too. Guess it's another of your secret talents."

She smiled at him. "So, what do we know?"

Stefan checked his watch and yawned. "We go to sleep."

She snorted. "What?"

"Yeah, we deserve this," he lied next to Kinsey, got comfortable and closed his eyes.

Caroline watched him for a few seconds before imitating him and lying next to Kinsey's other side.

* * *

"We fell asleep, we didn't hear the doorbell," Stefan said for the third time with an apologetic smile, rubbing his neck.

Stefan, Caroline, Marty and Valerie were sitting at the big table in the living room. An hour and a half ago, Stefan and Caroline had been woken up by Kinsey when she shook their arms. They hadn't heard the doorbell for like twenty minutes, and when Stefan finally opened the door, Kinsey's mom, Valerie and Marty were there, waiting to be welcomed.

"It's fine, Stefan," Marty said.

"Yeah, totally fine," Valerie murmured before leading her glass to her lips.

Caroline looked at her from the corner of her eye and bit her tongue. "Kinsey's so cute, though. I hope she visits more often."

"Just like Lexi? You really are jealous of the friends I have, huh?"

Caroline shook her head, smiling. "And you're jealous that they actually like me more than they like you."

Stefan furrowed his brow and looked at her with a fake offended face. "Low blow."

Caroline shrugged with pride and took a bite of her slice of pizza. They hadn't had the time to cook. Well, _Stefan_ hadn't.

"You know what?" Stefan took Caroline's pizza crusts as usual to eat them. Valerie set her eyes on them and Marty sat straighter. "You're cruel, Caroline Forbes."

"I am _not_."

"Oh, and by the way? You totally snore."

Caroline gaped at him. "What? No, I don't!" she threw the napkin at him and he laughed. "You take that back right now!"

Marty laughed as he chewed. Valerie had her eyes fixed on her slice of pizza.

"Deal with the truth."

"You're just making it up and you know that."

"I'd say you're the one lying. I raised you better than this."

"Uh, hello? You didn't raise me at all."

"It's fine, Caroline. It's totally fine."

She brought her glass to her lips with a subtle smile on her face. "Jerk," she said between her teeth.

Stefan ran his gaze over the table quickly and his eyes met Valerie's tough facial expression. He looked at his plate and cleared his throat.

"He usually does this, you know? Bother me, annoy me... Tease me," she sighed. "He acts all innocent but deep down he's a wiseass," Caroline noticed Valerie's face and she bit the inside of her cheek and looked down. "Uh, I'm pretty sure you know, Valerie. You've known him longer than I have. He's a jerk, isn't he?"

Caroline offered her a gentle, friendly smile, but Valerie's quirk of her lips was quite dry.

"I don't believe that, you know?" Marty ventured. "He's always talking about you, in a nice way."

Stefan blushed suddenly and Caroline looked at Marty with a frown. "What?"

"Yeah, he's always saying how glad he is of having met you and having you as a best friend."

Caroline looked at him wide-eyed. He met her eyes for a second but then he looked down as he scratched his chin.

"You've never told me that."

"I'm sure I must have at some point."

"No, you haven't."

"So," Valerie cleared her throat. "How did you two meet?" she pointed at Marty and Caroline.

"Stefan was the one who introduced us, actually," Marty smiled at Caroline. "We were at this crazy party and he was helping her with a job."

Valerie nodded. "When was this?"

"Like two months ago?"

Caroline nodded. "Yeah."

Valerie looked at Stefan with a thoughtful expression. He averted his gaze. "Should we play at something?"

The door burst open and the two couples turned their heads to the sound. Bonnie stepped in clumsily and Damon grabbed her arm so that she wouldn't fall to the floor.

"Friends!" he exclaimed.

Stefan rubbed his forehead and Caroline shot Damon and Bonnie a frown. "What are you two doing here already? It's only 1am."

"Our friend here got kicked out of the place because she decided to grab the light bulb and swing."

Caroline burst out laughing. "Bonnie Bennett."

Bonnie winked at them. "That's me."

"I think we should call it a night," Stefan pushed himself to his feet.

"But it's so early!" Caroline complained.

Valerie got to her feet as well. "Stefan, can we...?" she pointed at the hallway and he nodded.

"Sure."

Caroline followed them with their eyes as Bonnie and Damon flopped down into the couch, giggling and wheezing.

"You're gonna have to tell him sooner or later, you do realize that?"

She frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"Stefan."

Her frown grew even more. "What about Stefan?"

Marty sighed. "Caroline, you like him."

The smile was wiped off her face. She stuttered. "Wh—, what do you—, I don't know wha—"

"Caroline, it's okay. You can stop pretending."

She looked into his eyes for a few seconds and then she let out a long breath. She bowed her head and covered her face with her hands. "I'm so sorry, Marty."

He shrugged. "I think it's always been kind of obvious, if I'm honest. You two are so, so obvious."

Caroline lowered her hands and looked at him. " _You two_?"

"Caroline, he's _always_ talking about you. We're not as close as he and Lexi are but I think it's easy to see that he likes you too."

She looked at the empty hallway and shrugged. "I don't know. It's... complicated."

"Look, you're great, and I think you deserve to tell your best friend that you're in love with him. And, if he's not an idiot, he should give himself an the opportunity too."

Caroline bit the inside of her cheek. "You're not mad at me?"

"No, not at all."

"Because I've been super selfish with you. I didn't want to play with you, really, I just—"

"You wanted to give this a chance to see if you can forget him."

She closed her mouth and nodded at him. "Yeah. I think so."

"Hey," he squeezed her shoulder. "It's fine, Caroline. Listen, if I'm completely honest, I wasn't super sure about us either. We're looking for different things, and I don't think we would work."

"Well, that's a relief, because I thought that too!"

They laughed and he nodded. "We can be friends, if that's fine?"

"That sounds good," she gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I should go. I have work tomorrow."

Caroline nodded and walked him to the door. "Thank you for being so understanding with this. I'm glad I didn't hurt you, because—"

"You didn't want to," he finished her sentence. "Don't worry, you didn't." He opened the door and looked at her. "Do yourself a favor and tell him?"

Caroline rubbed her neck. "That's going to be... difficult."

"Just do it."

"Um, could you... not tell him? I know I'm asking a lot but—"

"It's none of my business. Tell him whenever you're ready, but do it."

Caroline nodded and smiled at him before he got out of the loft. She turned around and saw Damon snoring on the armchair. Bonnie was looking at her with lifted eyebrows.

"Listen, _Carolina_ , I'm super drunk but I know what's going on in here."

"What do you mean?" Stefan just stepped into the hallway and walked towards the kitchen.

Caroline swallowed, took a deep breath and followed him. "Hey, Stefan. I was wondering if, uh... If we could talk."

"Right now? Wait, where's Marty?"

"Um, he just left. He have to get up early tomorrow and—"

He looked down, nodding. He had fixed in his mind the image he had seen as soon as he and Valerie had arrived. Marty had approached Caroline and kissed her in the cheek.

"You know, I think he really likes you."

Caroline fixed her gaze on his hands as he grabbed two more slices of pizza. She felt like laughing at his comment. How could he be so blind sometimes?

"Do you guys mind if Valerie stays for a little longer? She called a taxi that will be here in 30."

"I don't care," Bonnie mumbled.

Damon groaned. "I do. Tell her to leave."

"She's..." Caroline looked at the door of Stefan's bedroom quickly. "She's going to stay?"

"The taxi will be here in—"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you," she waved her hand in a dismissive way.

Stefan ran his gaze over Caroline's face slowly, as though he was trying to analyze her expression. "Is everything okay?"

She cleared her throat and gave him a distant smile. "Yeah, everything good."

He nodded. "Well, see you tomorrow, guys," he said to Bonnie and Damon. He looked at Caroline with a small smile then. "Night."

"Night."

Stefan disappeared behind the door of his room and Caroline leaned against the fridge and looked down at her feet.

"Night, ladies," Damon said, heading to his room. "Let's do it again next week, Bon."

"Will do!"

When Damon closed the door, Bonnie looked at Caroline and patted the place next to her on the couch.

Caroline sat next to her and shrank into herself, wrapping her legs with her arms. Bonnie tilted her head and took her hand.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Did you see the moment of hesitation when I almost did the right thing? It was brief... But it was there."

"I know, babe."

Bonnie squeezed her hand and pulled her so that Caroline rested her head in her shoulder. Bonnie wrapped her with her arm and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry."

Caroline shrugged. "It's fine, you know? I've been kind of slow."

"Hey, trust me, that Valerie... Nope."

Caroline snorted and shook her head. "Thank you. I love you, you know that, right?"

"Of course I do. I love you too," Bonnie kissed her crown.

Caroline reacted a few seconds later and winced. "Your breath... You smell like a lot of alcohol."

"I know, I know." They laughed and Bonnie got to her feet. "I'm going to bed. Wanna come?"

"Yeah, I'm coming."

Bonnie nodded and disappeared behind the door of her room. Caroline looked at her hands, distracted, for a few seconds. She pushed herself up and she was walking towards Bonnie's room when someone knocked at the door.

She stopped and sighed. "Now what?"

And that _what_ was actually a _who_. A who that she had never thought she'd see again, at least not there.

"A—, Alessio, what are you doing here?"

"Caroline, I've missed you _mia moglie_!"


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER VIII: The _last_ obstacle**

 _July 2018_

Being stressed after what had happened last night was an understatement. Caroline ran her hands over her face for the tenth time. She hadn't been able to sleep at all, and she had started hearing noise in the kitchen an hour ago. If Bonnie was awake, she'd go check on her soon.

Her eyes veered to the man that was sleeping in a sleeping-bag beside her bed. Alession was sleeping tightly as if he didn't care about anything in the world, as though he didn't have anything to worry about.

She had no idea as to how she was going to keep hiding him in the house. And more importantly, what the hell did he want?! She should have known that this moment would come eventually.

" _Mamma mia, Alexandro! La pizza sta bruciando!_ "

Caroline jumped on her bed and looked at Alessio. He turned around and kept sleeping.

"Okay, this is okay, I can fix this," she nodded to herself and slid her arms through the sleeves of her robe.

"Hey, I was about to check on you".

Caroline jumped for the second time when she heard Bonnie behind her. She closed the door fast before her friend could see or hear anything.

"HEY!" Caroline smiled widely, blinking more than necessary.

Bonnie frowned. "Is everything alright? You didn't come last night."

"YES, EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT."

Bonnie couldn't help but give a step back. "Why are you yelling?"

Caroline cleared her throat. "Am I?"

"Um, yes?"

Caroline snatched Bonnie's coffee and gave a long sip. Her friend looked at her with wide eyes.

"I know you so well. What's going on?"

Caroline choked and started coughing. "Nothing, nothing," she waved off. "Everything's _supercalifragilisticexpialidocious_ , Bonnie."

Stefan came out of the bathroom just right then. "Hey, where's all the shampoo?"

Caroline stepped back and hit the door of her bedroom with her back. She spread her arms and laughed nervously.

"Stefan, it's been so long! What's up?"

Stefan looked at Caroline super confused. Bonnie narrowed her eyes at her and folded her arms, knowing something was up. He touched Caroline's forehead.

"Are you okay? Do you have temperature?"

"Yeah, temperature, weather. It's super cold, right?"

Stefan and Bonnie exchanged a quick look. It was late July. He rolled his eyes.

"Okay, what's going on? What did you do now?"

"What?! I didn't do any—," she suddenly heard Alession coughing in the room and she started coughing violently. "Oh my God, I think I'm dying."

Stefan pursed his lips. "Ooookay, I'm just gonna go... ask Damon."

Caroline smiled at him. "Yes, you do that."

As soon as Stefan disappeared in Damon's room, Caroline grabbed Bonnie's arm and dragged her to the terrace.

"I need your help."

"Obviously".

"No, Bonnie, you—, you don't get it. I did something so, so stupid. I made such a mistake, I—"

"Caroline," Bonnie grabbed her by the shoulders. "Calm down, breathe and tell me what the hell is going on".

"Okay, Italy."

"Uh-huh."

"You know I kinda disappeared after everything that happened with my dad."

"Yes, I recall."

"And I decided to go to Italy, study there..."

"YES, Caroline, I know all that. Get to the point."

"Well, I—" she cleared her throat and put a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Oh my God, this is serious."

"DO YOU THINK I'D BE IN THIS STATE IF IT WASN'T BONNIE BENNET."

"You're wanted in Italy? It's that, right? You came back to escape the Italian authorities, oh my God."

"What? No, I..." she looked around to make sure no one was near. "Listen, while I was in Italy, I lost control a little bit, I—," she took a deep breath. "I hooked up with this guy, it was just sex, you know? We simply wanted to have fun and—"

"And?"

"Well, uh...," she smiled nervously and rubbed her forehead. "We went to a party and got super drunk and—"

"Did you kill someone?"

Caroline closed her mouth and looked at Bonnie with a raised eyebrow. "Really, Bonnie?"

"What! You said it was serious!"

"We got married."

Bonnie widened her eyes and stared at Caroline without saying a word. Caroline nodded. Bonnie looked down with her mouth open.

"Say something," Caroline said as she fidgeted with her hands.

Bonnie's eyes were very open. She was barely blinking. "I—, I honestly don't know what to say".

Caroline clasped her hands over her head. "I know it's crazy."

"Crazy?" Bonnie laughed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because!" she sighed. "Because I didn't want you to judge me."

Bonnie pursed her lips and looked away. Caroline closed her eyes.

"I know, I deserve to be judged."

"It's not about that, it's... Maybe I could've helped you if you'd told me."

"I know, I'm sorry."

Bonnie sighed and put her hands on Caroline's shoulders. "Okay, let's calm down and try to figure out how we can get you out of this mess".

"There's something else."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "What?"

"The guy I married, Alessio, is here. He's in my bedroom".

Bonnie bit her lower lip and nodded slowly. Only Caroline could get into these kinds of problems.

"But, hey, the bright side of all this is that it actually wasn't a 100% legal wedding. It was something like Vegas, you know?"

"So, maybe we could do something."

Caroline nodded. "Yes."

"We should tell Stefan."

"Yes, of cour— WHAT."

"He may know someone that can help you. Valerie, for example, she's a lawyer."

"Hah, sure. Let's ask Valerie, because she doesn't hate me at all."

"Well, Caroline, you're in this mess of situation. So, suck it up, and let's—"

"I can't tell Stefan, okay? I—, I don't want him to know."

Bonnie looked at Caroline, who averted her gaze. "Okay, well, let's... I don't know, let's find a way to fix this."

* * *

"Caroline! _Finalmente!_ "

"Shh, please, keep it down" Caroline put her hands on Alessio's shoulders and made him sit on her bed.

" _Ma_ , what's going on?"

"Well, uh," Caroline rubbed her neck, trying to find a believable excuse. "Okay, so, listen, my roommates are jerks, and they don't let me bring people here, which means you have to stay here."

" _Qui?! Ma_ what am I going to do here?"

She gave him a nervous smile and walked backwards toward the door. "Don't worry, I'll try to figure out what we can do, okay?" she nodded and didn't wait for an answer. "Okay!"

She closed the door behind her and let out an exasperated sigh. How was she in this mess? Well, she actually knew the answer to that question.

Caroline stood next to Bonnie, who was looking into an old agenda with her list of contacts.

"Did you find anything?"

"I'm trying," Bonnie said.

"Hey, you're blocking the view of the TV," Damon complained from the couch.

Stefan shook his head while cutting some onions in the kitchen. He looked at Damon. "Why don't you come over here and help me with lunch?"

"No, thanks, Steffy. I'm good here."

Stefan rolled his eyes with a smile and his eyes veered to the girls. He could only see their backs as they were mumbling with their heads very close. He narrowed his eyes distracted as he kept moving the knife.

"Who are you trying to find again?" Caroline asked.

"I dated a law student when I was in college. It only lasted a couple of months because, you know, _law_ , but maybe he can help us. We didn't end badly, so."

Caroline nodded. "Great, because Alessio is getting super impatient and I don't even know how to keep him calm".

"I still can't believe you're married, I'm still trying not to freak out."

"What did you just say?"

Bonnie and Caroline got startled by Damon's question. They looked at him over their shoulders with pursed lips. Damon's eyes narrowed and Stefan looked at them from the corner of his eye too.

"Nothing, nothing. That Christine here, an old friend," Bonnie shook the agenda, "got married. Time flies!"

"Did she?" Damon asked. "Christine? Our friend from Chicago?"

"Yeah, our Christine."

"And when did she marry the fortunate man?"

"Oh, just a couple of months ago, I think."

Damon nodded with a thinned-lip smile.

Bonnie turned to Caroline and lowered her voice. "I'm gonna go to my room and try to find this guy."

Caroline nodded and walked towards the kitchen, determined.

"Hey."

"He—," he watched how she started to grab a lot of food and snacks. "Are you gonna eat all that?"

She looked up at him. "What? A girl can't eat this much? Just because she's a girl?"

He looked around, confused. "I didn't say that, I just—"

"Whatever you say, Stefan."

She turned and walked over to her room. Stefan rubbed his eyes as Damon sat on the stool opposite him.

"If only I could understand her."

"Problems in paradise?"

Stefan kept cutting vegetables. "More like in apartment number 3. She and Bonnie... They're acting weird."

"Oh, so you noticed too. Then that means they're being super obvious because you don't usually do," Stefan rolled his eyes at Damon's comment. "They're hiding something. And it must be big."

"Maybe we're being paranoid. It's not the first time they've broken something in the apartment and lied to us about it."

"Nah, this is more than that. Bonnie can't lie. The girl always ends up spilling the beans when Caroline's done something."

Stefan frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that Bonnie's a terrible liar. Christine?"

"What with her?"

"Bonnie said she married her boyfriend a couple of months ago. But Christine hasn't married anyone. I'm friends with her on Facebook."

"So what? Maybe she kept it quiet and actually got married and told Bonnie."

"No, Stefan, she didn't."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because Christine isn't dating a _he_. She's dating a _she_."

Stefan raised his eyebrows. "Oh."

* * *

"Knock, knock, Bon, Bon."

The agenda fell off Bonnie's hands. "Guys, I'm not in the mood to play Monopoly right now, okay?"

"Actually, we didn't come to play," Stefan said, looking at the agenda with a suspicious look. "We just wanted to know if everything's okay. Caroline's acting weird."

"You're waiting weird," Damon continued. "You two are being weird as hell, and if you did something, I want in."

Bonnie scoffed. "So, if something, hypothetically speaking, was happening, you'd just want to be involved, not actually help."

"Helping is boring."

"Did something happen or not? What's with Caroline?" Stefan asked, getting impatient. "She's been avoiding me all day."

Bonnie and Damon rolled their eyes at the same times.

"So, that's it," Damon said. "You actually just wanna know why Caroline's not giving you the looks."

"Shut up."

"No, you shut up."

"NO, YOU TWO SHUT UP," Bonnie intervened. Damon and Stefan looked at her, both of them surprised. "Caroline and I are going through an emotional situation right now, okay? We got our periods at the same time, okay?"

Stefan ran a hand over his face and Damon folded his arms with a frown.

"Our ovaries are about to explode, we're not in the mood for you two and your stupid faces."

"Hey, Bonnie, chill," Stefan said.

"You chill, Salvatore!"

"Why don't we all just calm down?" Damon asked.

"I've been trying for ours to find the phone number of my gynaecologist, and you two are just playing games as usual!"

"Okay, Bonnie. I'm sorry," Stefan raised his hands as a way to show surrender and got out of the room.

Damon, on the contrary, lifted his eyebrows.

"What?" Bonnie asked.

"You may fool Stefan, but you're not fooling me, Bonnie Bennett."

"You're so annoying, Damon, I swear.

"Caroline's acting weird. Then you started to act weird too. Why?" he started to approach her slowly and Bonnie gave a step backwards, nervous. "What did she tell you for you to be acting like this?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure? Because, this," he pointed at her face, "doesn't seem nothing."

Bonnie remained still and quiet, trying not to move or react suspiciously.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to go to her room and check everything's oka—"

"CAROLINE'S MARRIED AND HER HUSBAND IS IN HER ROOM!"

Damon opened his eyes widely and Bonnie did the same. Both stared at each other with blank faces, in shock.

"WHAT?!" Damon asked.

"What?!" Bonnie repeated. "Oh my God, I'm so stupid. WHY AM I LIKE THIS?"

"Caroline's married?" Damon covered his mouth with his hand. "This is brand news."

"Why do I have such a big mouth? Why can't I just keep a damn secret? WHY?"

"I can't believe this," Damon kept talking to himself. "The girl has more secrets than I thought."

Bonnie was wandering. "Who am I? _Hagrid_? Spilling all the secrets that shouldn't be told? Should I, I don't know, punish myself like _Dobby_?"

Damon seemed to react and frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Hey, Bonnie, so, maybe—," Caroline stopped when she saw Damon next to Bonnie. "Oh, hi. What are you, uh, doing?"

Bonnie smiled nervously but didn't say a word. Damon put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and averted his gaze. Caroline watched them for a second before...

"YOU TOLD HIM?!"

"I couldn't help it! He was just pushing," Bonnie slapped Damon on the face. He looked at Bonnie with a wince and a offended face.

"What was that for?!"

"You're the worst."

"Guys, stop, okay?" Caroline sighed.

"I just can't believe you didn't invite me to your wedding, Caroline."

"Damon, this happened before we met."

"Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that."

"Oh my God."

"I think we should tell Stefan," Bonnie said suddenly.

"No way, Bonnie!" Caroline said. "Not a word of this to Stefan, are we clear? Damon?"

Damon smirked. "Why don't you want him to know?"

Caroline gave him a dry smile. "That's none of your business."

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Caroline, Damon and Bonnie exchanged shocked looks. They got out of the room and saw Stefan in front of the door of the bathroom.

"There's some stranger pooping in our bathroom!"

Caroline looked down as Alessio stepped out of the bathroom.

"Caroline, _mia moglie_!" Alessio said again. " _Grazie per_ the food! We _dobbiamo parlare_ about marriage! Talk about _il nostro_ marriage!"

Bonnie and Damon looked down and Stefan looked at Caroline with a frown. She bit her lower lip and looked at him too.

"Did he just say _marriage_?" Stefan smiled with disbelief.

But Caroline didn't smile back, and Stefan's smile vanished as soon as he realized all this wasn't a joke.

* * *

If someone had seen how the four roommates were sitting at the table, in company of the new Italian guest, they wouldn't have believed it. The reason why was that Stefan, Caroline, Bonnie and Damon had their eyes fixed on the wood table and all of them were in silence.

The only thing they could hear was Alessio chewing his second plate of lunch.

Caroline looked at Stefan from the corner of her eye. He had been frowning all along, but he didn't seem angry.

"Can I just say that all this is kinda funny?" Damon said.

"It's not funny," Bonnie said, sending Damon a murderous look.

"How did this happen, anyway?"

"Again, Damon, it was a drunk mistake, okay?" Caroline explained. "It was very _Las Vegas_ style. We weren't even dating. And I was going through," she cleared her throat, "a difficult situation in my life."

Stefan got to his feet and headed to the terrace. Caroline pursed her lips and looked at Damon and Bonnie.

"Okay, this is kinda new to me. I've known you and your brother for a while now, but right now I don't know if Stefan is mad, disappointed..."

"I'd say he's frustrated, more than anything," Bonnie said.

Caroline got to her feet and followed Stefan. He was looking down at the street. She decided to take a chance and hugged him from behind. She rested her chin against his back.

"Are you mad?"

"No, Caroline, I'm not mad."

"Then, what is it?"

"I'm..." he sighed.

"You're disappointed."

"No, it's not that."

"Then, what-is-it?" she asked against back.

"It's just that I can't believe you're actually married."

"It was a mistake, a stupid mistake," she said.

"That's why you drank when we were playing _Never Have I Never_."

Caroline scoffed. "How can you even remember that? It happened months ago."

He shrugged. "Look, I'm not mad, or disappointed, and I'm not judging you at all if that's what you're thinking. It's just that you, well, you could have told me."

"I didn't know how."

"But you told Damon and Bonnie."

"I told Bonnie because I needed help to fix all this. And I didn't tell Damon, Bonnie did."

"Was there any reason why you didn't tell me?"

She sighed and bit her lower lip. "I didn't want you to think any less of me."

He remained silent for a few seconds and then turned around to look at her.

"Really."

"Yes, really."

Stefan shook his head and put a lock of her hair behind her ear. "We need to fix this."

"Well, duh. That's what I've been trying to do all day."

"I could help, you know? I know lawyers, I could call—"

"Nope, thanks."

"You don't know what I was gonna say."

"Um, yes, you were going to say Valerie."

"Well, she could help you, Caroline. She's a lawyer."

"Listen, I don't want to have to owe her anything, okay?"

Stefan scoffed. "Why do you see it that way? She'd just be doing a favor."

"Stefan," she rubbed her forehead. "I don't know if you've noticed, but your girlfriend doesn't like me."

He frowned. "What? That's not true."

"Yes, it is, Stefan. We just don't connect."

Stefan sighed and looked away. "Caroline, you just can't keep being married to this guy, I mean... I'm not going to let it happen."

Caroline looked at him and watched him with a frown for a few seconds. Stefan cleared his throat and looked at her.

"What?"

She tried not to smile. "Nothing."

"And you said you don't even know why he's here. What if he wants to, I don't know, take this seriously and be with you in actual marriage?"

She laughed. "Calm down, drama queen."

"So now I'm a drama queen. This marriage is crazy, it doesn't make any sense."

"Look, Bonnie and I are trying to fix it, and you can help if you want, but just promise me you won't call Valerie, okay?"

Stefan looked at her and she raised her eyebrows, waiting for a response. He looked away and nodded slowly.

* * *

"I brought you some dinner so that you see I also care about you, Stef."

Stefan, who was sitting on his bed lost in thought, looked at Damon. He pursed his lips when he saw what there was in the plate.

"That's pizza, Damon."

"Yes, so? Pizza is food, isn't it?"

"It's pizza from yesterday, it's leftovers."

"Shut up and eat it or I will."

Stefan took the plate and started to eat. Damon folded his arms and leaned against the wall.

"So, nothing to say to the recent news?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know, but you've been so quiet. I mean, you always are, but right now I'm literally worried."

"Caroline's married, so what?"

Damon laughed. "Yeah, _so what_."

Stefan chewed for a few seconds in silence and swallowed. Then, suddenly, he stood up and started wandering with the plate in one hand and the slice of pizza in the other.

"I just don't get it. I mean, I do. It's just—, I'm—"

He let out a deep breath and Damon smiled, satisfied.

"I'm frustrated, Damon. More than frustrated. Because I'd have wanted to know, I'd have liked her to tell me. We're best friends, and she didn't tell me."

"Sometimes people have their reasons to hide something. Or to not tell, in this case."

"Yeah, but," he sighed. "I felt like—, I felt like she felt like she couldn't tell me, you know? Like she couldn't trust me."

"I got lost in the middle of the sentence, but just stop overthinking, okay? She didn't tell you because she didn't want to disappoint you or, well," Damon looked at Stefan as if the reason was obvious, but he knew his brother was too slow and blind to understand. "Look, it doesn't matter. Now you just have to try to help her fix this, because she's _married_. I don't know if you understand the meaning of the word."

He lifted his eyebrows and Stefan rolled his eyes.

"I'm just saying that Caroline being married is such an obstacle for any guy that," Damon cleared his throat, "would like to be with her, you know?"

"What did she see in him?" Stefan said. He clearly hadn't been paying attention to Damon's indirect. Damon snorted. "I mean, he's Italian, I guess that's a plus."

"Stefan, he's not Caroline's type, okay?"

"What if she still feels something for him and she hasn't realized yet? What if she realizes that the marriage wouldn't have to be such a bad idea?"

"Are you listening to yourself?"

"What if this guy just—, what if he's actually a good person and nice to her and really loves her and can give her what she needs and wants?"

Damon shook his head as he watched Stefan. He was a lost cause.

"You really have a problem of self-esteem, you know that? Why do you think so little of yourself?"

Stefan frowned and looked at him. He'd listened to Damon for the first time in the last 5 minutes.

"What?"

"You always do that, you know? You underestimate yourself. You think you're not good enough for her."

Stefan got nervous and shook his head and said no with his finger. "No, no. That has nothing to do with it, okay? With her."

"Oh, please. I'm so tired of this. It's like reading a slow-burn fanfic about two best friends who are already in love but the writer won't let them confess their feelings to each other to create suspense and angst and that's so annoying, man."

"What are you talking about, Damon?"

"I don't know."

They heard the doorbell and Damon frowned.

"Are we expecting someone?"

"I called Valerie."

Damon looked at Stefan wide-eyed. "Caroline's gonna murder you."

* * *

"So," Valerie cleared her throat and interlaced the fingers of her hands. She was sitting at the table, just like Damon, Caroline, Bonnie and Alessio. "You were married and told no one?"

Caroline squinted her eyes shut and then looked at Valerie with an unfriendly face. She offered her a fake smile. "Yes, that's it."

"Mm."

Valerie looked at the marriage contract she had in her hands and Caroline clenched her jaw. She appreciated to see that Bonnie was giving Valerie a murderous look too.

Stefan set coffee pot on the table. "I'm gonna bring some cups."

"I'll help you," Caroline said.

"They're just cu—" the sentence disappeared when Caroline pinched his arm as they walked towards the kitchen. "Ow, ow."

"What did I tell you?" she asked him.

"She's the only one who can help us!"

"I don't want her help, Stefan."

"So you prefer being married?"

"No, but—"

"But she can help."

Caroline pressed her lips together as they looked into each other's eyes. She averted her gaze when she saw Alessio approaching them.

"Caroline, can we _parlare_? Talk? It's _importante_!"

"Not now! Alessio, we'll talk, okay? Just—" she sighed and looked at Bonnie and Damon with an imploring face. "Guys, can you take Alessio out? Maybe show him around? He's never been here."

"Actually, that will be funnier than staying here and see this," Damon said. "Come on, Bon Bon."

Alessio looked very distressed. " _Ma_ we _dobbiamo parlare_! _Io voglio fissare questo_!"

Damon patted Alessio's back. "Don't worry, Alessio, we're gonna have fun."

Once the door was closed, Caroline sat down on her chair again, exhausted. She watched Valerie for a few seconds and tried to bite her tongue, but...

"Look, it's obvious we don't like each other," Valerie looked up and watched Caroline with interest. "I mean, even if we're women, feminist women may I say, we don't have to get along, we just have to respect each other."

"I agree."

"Good. And just to be clear, I didn't tell Stefan to ask for your help. Actually, I told him not to do it. But he ignored me. So, you're free to walk away and not to do any of this if that's what you want."

"That sounds great."

"Well, good, then you can—"

"But I'm going to see what I can do. And I don't do it for you. I do it because Stefan asked me to help."

Caroline clenched her jaw again. "What have I done to you to hate me so much?"

Valerie lifted her eyebrows, surprised. "Really?"

Caroline gave her a questioning look.

"You know why I don't like you."

"No, I don't."

Valerie looked at Stefan and Caroline followed the direction of her eyes. "You, you and Stefan."

Caroline furrowed her brow and opened her mouth. "Wha—, me and Stefan?"

"Yes."

"Look, there's nothing between me and Stefan if that's what you—"

Valerie rolled her eyes and looked at the contract. "Oh, please."

"I'm not trying to steal Stefan from you, Valerie."

Valerie looked into Caroline's eyes. Caroline looked at the table.

"He's with you, isn't he?"

Valerie scoffed and shook her head. Caroline opened her mouth to say something else, clearly annoyed at Valerie's attitude. She bit her tongue and headed to her room just when Stefan was walking towards the table with 3 cups. He placed them on the table and followed Caroline, which made Valerie purse her lips.

He grabbed Caroline's arm. "Hey, hey. What's going on?"

"It's—" she gritted her teeth and ran her hands through her hair aggressively. "It's impossible to—" she remembered Valerie's words and shut her mouth. "It's nothing."

"I thought you said you were gonna be polite."

"I said I was gonna be as polite _as possible_. If you wanted me to be better than that, you should've told me to just lie."

She closed the door of her room and left him there. Stefan ran a hand over his face and sighed. He dragged her feet to the table and sat next to Valerie.

He held the contract in his hands. "So, what do you think of this?"

"I think she's crazy."

Stefan clenched his jaw. "I mean solutions, Valerie."

" _Solutions_ ," Valerie laughed. "It's a marriage Vegas style, it's not such a big deal."

"Yeah, but it's wrong. Caroline shouldn't be married to a man that isn't part of her life, that... I mean, she says she's not in love with him, and it was a mistake, a terrible mistake. She should be free to marry the person she wants and..."

Valerie watched him intently, clearly disappointed. Stefan cleared his throat.

"She came here to start over and leave that life behind, and it's," he bit his lower lip for a few seconds with his eyes closed. "It's frustrating that she's trapped in this stupid marriage."

Stefan looked at Valerie and noticed the kind of look that she was giving him. An accusatory look, a suspicious look. A _I know what you're hiding behind all these excuses_ look.

"You seem very anxious and stressed over the fact that Caroline's married to some random guy."

"I—, I'm not," he let out a high-pitched laughter. "I'm just saying that, you know, maybe she'll want to marry someone someday, like Marty. If things go well."

Valerie bit the inside of her cheek and nodded slowly, looking down at the contract again. Stefan scratched the back of his neck.

"So, is everything you can do to break the marriage? Is it legal? Should she, I don't know, ask for divorce or—"

"Stefan, do you have a thing for Caroline?"

Stefan opened his eyes widely and got nervous, but he offered another fake laugh. "What? That's not—. Look, I just want to help her. She's my friend."

Valerie looked at him with disbelief for a few seconds. Then she grabbed the contract and her phone. "Let me talk to some colleagues that have more experience in these kinds of things."

Stefan nodded. "I'll pay if it comes to that."

Valerie looked at him, surprised, as she dialled the phone number. Or maybe not so surprised anymore.

* * *

"Then, I only have to fill that document requesting an annulment?"

"Yes, because it's not something that can be considered one hundred per cent legal," Valerie explained. She grabbed Caroline's document. "This is one of those papers in which everything's written perfectly but can't be considered one hundred per cent proof that is legal. You'd just have to ask for this not to be considered true and real, and explain the reasons. And both you and... that guy must agree and sign the petition, of course."

Caroline sighed and rubbed her neck. "I guess that's the only difficulty."

"You'd have to send the petition to the right institutions of both United States and Italy."

Caroline nodded as Stefan listened to everything carefully with his arms folded.

"And if there's a problem with Alessio's contest, then what?" Stefan asked.

"They might still consider the petition even with only one signature and agree to it if you give the right reasons and explain the situation. But with the consent of the two people involved, they'd just agree to it without the need of further documents or a trial. It'd be easily fixed in maximum 2 weeks. Though, we're in a special situation because not much time has passed since they _got married_. The more time you let pass, the more difficult it gets."

Stefan nodded and looked at Caroline. "Do you think you could talk to Alessio about all this and come to a solution?"

Caroline sighed. "I mean, yeah, but I don't know what his intentions are."

Just then, Damon, Bonnie and Alessio arrived.

"Hey, Alessio. Do you think we can talk? _Voglio parlare di questo, è importante e_ —"

" _NON!_ _Non aspetterò più, Caroline!_ _Noi dobbiamo parlare. Ho bisogno dell'annullamento del matrimonio. E non mi interessa se tu vuoi stare qui con me e se vuoi vivere con me, ed essere mia moglie. Mi sono divertito molto con te ed è stato divertente ma voglio essere libero!_ _Mi dispiace se sei innamorata di me!_ "

Everyone looked at Alessio wide-eyed, especially Caroline. Alessio was breathing hard, his shoulders moving up and down and his hands were closed in fists.

"What did just happen?" Damon asked, fighting back a laugh.

Stefan looked at Alessio and then at Caroline with a questioning look. Valerie looked at her watch and Bonnie took the coffee pot.

"I need caffeine."

" _Sono innamorato della mia migliore amica e voglio sposarla,_ Caroline _._ _Annulli il matrimonio, per favore_."

Caroline gaped at him. "Oh my God!" she walked towards him and hugged him, laughing. Alessio joined her and laughed too, hugging her back.

Stefan looked at them, nervous. "Wha—, what's going on?" he laughed anxiously.

" _Complimenti! Sono molto felice per te!_ " Caroline told Alessio with a smile.

" _Grazie, grazie_."

Bonnie kept sipping her coffee. Stefan scratched his chin.

"Can anyone explain what's going on?" he asked.

Caroline laughed. "Alessio wants the marriage to be cancelled too. He wants to get married. He has a girlfriend. He's been trying to tell me all day."

Damon crinkled his nose and rubbed his eyes. "So, you're telling me all this could've been fixed if you had just listened to him?"

"I'm so gonna kill you, Caroline," Bonnie murmured against the cup.

"So, everything's gonna be okay, then?" Stefan asked.

Caroline nodded with a smile, one that Stefan returned with one of his own. He hugged her and lifted her in the air as they laughed. Valerie watched them and Damon and Bonnie exchanged a quick glance.

"Stop, Stefan," Caroline said laughing. "You're strangling me."

Stefan released Caroline with a wide smile.

"Alessio, come," Caroline grabbed his hand and led him to her room. "I'm gonna type this document we need and we'll sign it," she stopped and looked at Valerie. "Thank you, Valerie."

Valerie nodded without looking at her. Bonnie and Damon exchanged another look.

"We, uh... We had to check the telephone bill. Right, Damon?" Bonnie asked.

"We did?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes and grabbed Damon's hand.

"Thank you so, so much, Valerie. Just tell me how much I have to pay you and your colleagues. I'll take the costs without any pro—"

"I don't want your money, Stefan," Valerie said, folding her arms. She looked at him intently. "I need the truth, for once."

"What—, what do you mean?"

"You're in love with her."

Stefan looked at Valerie in silence, and then he averted his gaze and looked at the floor. She sighed.

"It's so obvious, and so many things. The way you look at her, the mutual understanding, the way you freak out over the minimum thing when it comes to her... The fact that you called me right after she and Marty started dating."

"Valerie..."

"It's too much. You're not together, but what you have to do is too big. And I'm tired of having to deal with it in the shadows. I'm so familiar with the sensation of watching you and Caroline from the outside, it's exhausting."

Stefan closed his mouth, not knowing what to say.

"You wanted her to be free in case someday she chooses you," she continued. He looked into her eyes. "And you'll be there for her if that happens, you're just... waiting, for her."

Stefan swallowed and ran a hand over his face. "Valerie, just—"

"I know you didn't want to hurt me, I know you actually thought you might get over her if maybe you were with someone else," she smiled at him, shaking her head. "But I think we both know that's not gonna happen. I think our moment passed years ago, even if I didn't want to believe it. Because I see the way you look at her. Like if she loved you back nothing else in the world would matter, because you'd have her. But at the same time, you're terrified of her because she has more control over your heart than you'd ever dare to admit."

Stefan kept looking at her in silence, trying to say sorry with his look. Valerie sighed and smiled at him.

"At least that's what I think or it seems. But, if there's a chance that what I'm saying is not true... If you actually want to try this, give us a chance and try to get over her... I'm giving you the opportunity to choose, Stefan. What do you want?"

Stefan stared at her and swallowed. He sighed and looked at the door of Caroline's room.

"I—"

Valerie gave him a questioning look with raised eyebrows.

"I didn't want to hurt you, Valerie."

She let out the air she had been holding and nodded.

"I'm so sorry, I—"

"I know, I know."

"I really tried to move on, but—"

"But you're in love with her."

Stefan nodded, biting the inside of his cheek.

"It's fine."

"No, it's not fine, it's—"

"Stefan, it's fine. Just, be happy, you know? And if she makes you... well, you know what to do."

She offered him a weak smile, grabbed her suitcase and walked towards the door. He massaged his temples when the door closed and sighed. When he opened his eyes, he saw Damon.

"Were you listening?"

"Yes."

Stefan scoffed. "You're not even gonna try to deny it."

"Hell no." Stefan laughed, shaking his head. Damon patted his back. "Time to get the girl, brother."

Stefan gave him a thin-lipped smile and patted Damon's back too.

"No more excuses," Damon said with raised eyebrows.

"No more excuses," Stefan repeated.

"Good."

Caroline came out of her room then and hugged both Damon and Stefan tightly. "I can't believe this turned out so well!"

"Yeah, me neither," Damon said, watching how Stefan was frozen, staring at Caroline.

"I think I'm gonna eat some ice cream, to celebrate."

Caroline checked the freezer and Damon nudged Stefan so that he'd react.

"Come on, say something to her!" he mouthed.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Something!"

Caroline tried the ice cream as she went back to her room. "Oh God, this is so good."

"Caroline?"

She stopped and looked at Stefan with her hand in the doorknob.

"You, uh—"

Damon cleared his throat and Caroline frowned.

"I like the color of your slippers."

Caroline, raised an eyebrow. Damon covered his eyes.

"Um, thank you!"

She disappeared behind the door and Damon looked at Stefan, shaking his head.

"I wanna die."

"I'd kill you, but we have to improve your flirting skills first. Because..."

"Because I like Caroline Forbes, yes."


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER IX: Unsteady

 _August 2018_

"You just need to step up your game, Stef."

Stefan tossed a frustrated hand up. "As if that was so simple. You know how long it's been since I haven't dated?"

"You were going out with Valerie a week ago, what are you even talking about?"

Stefan sighed and brought the cup of coffee to his lips. "That doesn't count."

"Okay, just practice with me, brother. Shoot."

He shot Damon an awkward look, trying to think, to come up with something that wouldn't result in a weird look from his brother. He cleared his throat and straightened in his chair. "I seem to have lost my phone number, so... Can I have yours?"

Damon stared at him without blinking. They exchanged a long, silent look. Stefan noticed how Damon pursed his lips and looked down.

"It's the worst thing I've ever heard, in my entire life."

"Well, what do you want me to do, Damon?"

"Try again.

Stefan snorted and rubbed his neck. "Uh... Was your dad a thief? Because he stole the stars and put them in your eyes."

Damon covered his eyes with his hand, losing his patience. "Where did you get that from? A frigging book for teenagers?"

"I told you it's been a while!"

"Try, again."

Stefan was starting to hate this whole idea of practicing with Damon.

"Okay, imagine I'm her. Go."

Stefan bit the inside of his cheek, thinking. "You know, I'm no photographer, but I could picture you and me together."

Damon got off his stool, wanting to die. "Nope, that's not gonna work, do you wanna be rejected? Don't think so. Try again."

"What are you guys doing?"

Stefan almost fell off the stool and his elbow landed on the cup of coffee. Damon wheezed as he watched the whole scene and Caroline pursed her lips not to laugh.

"What's wrong with you?"

Stefan picked a napkin quickly to clean his shirt and cleared his throat. "Nothing, we were just—"

"Practicing."

Caroline frowned. "Practicing?"

Stefan gave Damon a murderous look. "Something about work."

She watched them both a little bit confused. "Ooookay. Anyway, there's something important we have to discuss."

Stefan rested his chin on his hand as he stared at her longingly, whipped as he was. Damon shook his head, how didn't she even notice? He was _so_ obvious at this point. He wanted to laugh.

"Bonnie's birthday, guys. It's this weekend. Sooooo" Caroline looked at them with a wide smile, "what if we go to that dance contest she talked about?"

Stefan looked at her with a stupid smile. "Sure."

Caroline ran a brief glance over his face and a brow slowly arched up. Damon decided to intervene.

"And who's gonna dance?"

"Us, of course!"

"Are you crazy, blondie?"

"C'mon! It'll be fun. And there's this karaoke as well, and a road trip is always entertaining. And we can stay some nights in some fancy hotel next to the beach and a pool if you guys don't like the sand. You're so weird."

Damon rubbed his chin. "Hm, guess the pool doesn't sound bad."

"So? What do you say? For Bonnie?"

Damon sighed. "Okay."

"Stefan?"

But Stefan was too distracted staring at her mouth to even hear his name. Caroline shot him a confused look. Damon cleared his throat and threw a napkin at Stefan.

"Wh—, what?"

"Are you okay with the plan?"

Stefan cleared his throat. "Yeah, sure."

Caroline put a hand against his forehead and he froze at her touch. "Are you feeling well? Are you sick or something? Why are you acting so weird?"

Stefan closed his eyes. "You smell like jasmine."

Her brows flew up and she pulled back her hand. "It's a new lotion."

He opened his eyes and looked into her eyes. "It... suits you."

For a few seconds, Damon watched them as they looked into each other's eyes in silence. Hm, maybe Stefan wasn't going to do that bad after all. Maybe Caroline was into the shit that he pulled.

She swallowed and cleared her throat. "I'm gonna..." she pointed at the hallway, "tell Bonnie."

Caroline walked away, confused as she had never been, and Damon patted Stefan's back.

"You're so weird."

Stefan ignored Damon, still staring at the last spot where he had seen Caroline before she got into Bonnie's room. "She looks so beautiful today."

Damon scoffed. "Aw, has somebody fallen in love?"

Stefan rolled his eyes in response and shoved Damon's hand off. "Shut up. I think I've scared her."

"I think she's just confused as fuck because she's never seen you act like this."

"Like an idiot, you mean?"

"Exactly."

* * *

Caroline shook his arm and he frowned with closed eyes. "Wake up, Stefan! We're going on an adventure!"

He opened one eye to check the time in the clock. "It's 4am, please shut up and go back to sleep, Caroline."

Stefan turned around in his bed and Caroline rolled her eyes. She stared at him carefully, and couldn't help but feel something, a glimpse of remorse after having woken him up, because he looked adorable when he was sleeping.

She closed her eyes and massaged her temples. He was with _Valerie_ , she really needed to remember that. She gave a step to walk away when she felt his hand taking hers.

She looked back at him and he sighed, half-asleep, half-awake. "Don't leave."

The way he said it, and _what_ he said, charged her skin. The bells of her brain tried to warn her, to prevent her from what she was about to do, but she ignored them and sat on his bed to lean on him. She rested her cheek on his back and sighed.

"I don't think I'd ever be able to."

 _You're stupid_ , she thought, after processing what she had just said. Luckily, it seemed that he was too passed out to even having heard.

"So, guys—" Bonnie froze in the doorway and Caroline's body stiffened as she sat straight. "Sorry."

Caroline offered a little smile. "It's fine. _Sleeping Beauty_ here doesn't want to get up."

Bonnie stood next to the bed to shake Stefan's arm with zero delicacy. "Stefan, wake up, you idiot."

He whined. "God, what's happening. I just want to sleep."

"We're setting off in an hour, remember? For our road trip. Come on."

He groaned against the pillow. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

One hour and a half later, they were all in the car. The sky was still dark, though it was starting to clear. Damon was driving and Stefan was trying to find a good radio station.

Bonnie couldn't stop watching Caroline carefully. The girl was being _obvious_. She nudged her and it took Caroline full five seconds to look at her.

"You're going to give yourself away."

"Huh?"

Bonnie pointed at Stefan with her head and Caroline waved a hand around in a dismissive gesture.

"Trust me, he's _blind_."

"Then, why don't you just... give a step forward and talk to him about what you're feeling? Wouldn't that be easier?"

Caroline lowered her voice. "Valerie."

"Whatever. Stefan needs to know he has other options."

"Look, there's a difference between a boyfriend and a boy friend. The gap is called the friendzone."

Bonnie snorted.

"Listen, it's fine. I'm okay, okay? Don't you worry about a thing. Let's just enjoy these days!" she sat on the edge of the seat to talk to Stefan and Damon. "Aren't you guys excited? Our first stop is the beach! Like, when was the last time you were in the beach?"

Damon hummed. "Last month, actually."

"WHAT."

"With a friend. I can't tell you about all the things I do, blondie. You're not my mom, deal with it."

"Anyway. What about you Stefan?"

"I have no idea, two years ago, maybe?"

"See? You'll thank me for this."

Stefan's lips flickered distantly at the comment and she felt her blood pumping faster. Caroline sat back and rested her back against the seat with a sigh. Sure, she was excited for the trip. But she hadn't really thought about the fact that it was going to be a challenge to spend so much time with Stefan and his ridiculous smile and look.

"Stop, Caroline Forbes, you got this."

Bonnie looked at her from the corner of her eye. "You're so weird."

Hours later, much hours later, they were finally in the beach. They spent the first hour burying Damon in the sand, and Caroline and Bonnie laughed when Stefan asked if they couldn't leave him there like that forever.

Then, Stefan and Damon challenged Caroline and Bonnie to see who could build the best and bigger sand castle. Of course, the girls won and as a prize the boys got them some mojitos.

Damon nudged Stefan much later, when he caught him watching Caroline. She and Bonnie were picking up shells on the seashore.

"Go."

Stefan sighed in response. "You know what? I can't."

"Why the fuck not now?"

"Because I just remembered she and Marty are still a thing, Damon. I can't do that to them."

Damon rolled his eyes as Bonnie approached them. "They haven't seen each other since the double date and I haven't seen her talking on the phone with him. Are we even sure they're still together?"

"Why wouldn't they? A week without talking isn't that much."

"Bon."

She looked up as she was taking a coke.

"Are Caroline and Marty still dating?"

"Dam—"

"Shhh. Bon?"

Bonnie looked at Stefan, who lowkey seemed interested in what she could say. "Actually, they broke up like a week ago."

He froze in place. "Wait, are you sure?"

She nodded. "It happened right in front of my eyes. And she told me. She's my best friend, of course I'm sure."

He tried really hard not to smile. "Uh, I'm—, I'm going to go for a swim, guys."

Damon waved a hand. " _Arrivederci_."

Bonnie folded her arms and followed Stefan with her eyes. "The important question, however, is what about Valerie?"

"He broke up with her too."

Bonnie gasped. "WHAT, when did this happen?"

Damon grinned. "Right after Caroline got rid of that Italian hubby."

Bonnie grinned as well. "Interesting."

Caroline had her eyes closed, the rays of sunlight warming up her skin, when she suddenly felt how her feet stopped touching the sand.

"Stefan! Put-me-down!"

He was running into the water with her in his arms. "Time for a swim, Caroline."

"I'm so going to kill—"

She couldn't finish the sentence since Stefan threw her to the water. She emerged and shot him a dark look.

"I hate you so much."

"Didn't you love the beach, and the sea and—" he laughed when she attempted to pull him down by the shoulders but wasn't strong enough. Although he had to admit that she was surprisingly strong, but still, not enough. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to drown you."

"Your attempts are funny."

They ended up fighting in the water, laughing and grabbing each other all the time, until she realized how close to him she was. Her hand was resting on his shoulder and his was tightening around her hip.

As a mechanism, she splashed some water on his face and he shut his eyes as his lips formed a thin line. An unexpected laugh slipped out of her throat and he shook his head, opening his eyes.

"You're the worst."

"You're the one who threw me in the water!"

* * *

When they got in the pub where the dance competition was going to be held, Stefan and Damon exchanged a sly look, wondering why the hell they had agreed to do this.

Bonnie bounced, excited. "I can't believe we're here!"

"Me neither."

Caroline nudged Stefan and gave him a warning look. She looked at Bonnie with a big, cheerful smile. "Okay so, what are we supposed to do, Bon?"

"Well, the contest starts in an hour, so I guess we can have some drinks and have some fun first. Shots?"

Damon paid attention for the first time. "Let's do it, bitches."

After the fourth one, they were already in the typical stage in which you start laughing more than usual about literally anything. Caroline slipped into a laugh as Damon was telling them about one childhood story.

"If you guys had seen his face," Damon wheezed, shaking his head. "He had got this little fish from the pet shop two days ago and he couldn't find it in the fish tank."

Stefan pointed at Damon. "Do me a favor and don't talk about Tommy like this. He wasn't just some _little fish_ , he was _the_ fish."

"I had taken it and hid it in some water bucket somewhere. It took him three days to find it."

Bonnie shook her head. "You're evil."

"A monster," Caroline agreed.

Stefan nodded. "See? Thank you. Finally someone who gets it."

"The damn bucket was in the bathroom, literally next to the toilet. How didn't you see it?"

"The last thing that occurred to me while peeing was checking the bucket, Damon."

Bonnie and Caroline laughed and Damon sighed.

"It was so funny to see him freaking out. He'd have nightmares in the night, I could hear him from my bedroom screaming _Tommy! Tommy, where are you?_ "

Bonnie hit Damon's head playfully. "You're Satan."

"He is," Stefan agreed. "You're the worst. I liked Tommy, he was the best fish ever."

Caroline looked at him and smiled a little. She liked to see that soft side of his, the way he actually cared about things, deeply, more than he'd ever admit.

"Oh, come on! It was funny! Besides, at the end I gave it back to you."

Stefan snorted. "Yeah, after three miserable days. Thanks for that."

"And he didn't talk to me for a month."

"You deserved it."

Caroline stared at him with a lingering, soft look, and Stefan shot her a glance. She looked down, but the smile was still on her face. Damon and Bonnie exchanged a look, probably thinking that they were being such cockblockers right now.

Bonnie looked at Caroline. "Wanna go to the bathroom? I need to pee before this whole thing starts."

"Sure, let's go sister."

She and Stefan exchanged another quick glance as she walked past him. He snorted and rubbed the nape of his neck before drinking another shot. He hissed as the alcohol ran down his throat.

"This is strong."

Damon watched him carefully. "You slow down," he grinned. "We know how you get when you're drunk."

"Not fun."

"Nope."

He lowered his voice. "She smiled at me, again," he seemed to be talking to himself more than anything.

"O-m-g! That's crazy! You're practically going out now!"

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Just let me have this, okay? No need for sarcasm."

"It's just so funny to see you getting all nervous. It's like you're fifteen again. Oh, look."

Stefan followed Damon's look and saw a guy talking to Caroline. It seemed that he was trying to buy her a drink.

"This is exhausting."

"What is?"

"Flirt, everyone's better at it than me, that's for sure."

Damon hummed vaguely, but as soon as the girls came back, he pushed Stefan into Caroline.

"Ow!" Caroline touched her elbow, in pain.

Stefan, in panic, blurted out the first thing he could think of due to her proximity. "I like your eyeballs."

Damon covered his face with his hand in embarrassment. Caroline, however, shot him a look with a slight close-lipped smile.

"Um, okay?"

Stefan nodded slowly and Caroline stared at him with a frown, trying to figure out what was going on with him lately.

Bonnie's excited scream distracted her. "It's starting! Let's go! Damon, you dance with me. You two," she looked at her stupid friends, "do whatever you want."

She grabbed Damon's arm and led him to the dance floor. The contest consisted of dancing to any kind of type of music that played, nonstop. The songs would be constantly changing and the last three couples that remained in the dance floor would win.

Stefan nudged Caroline. "Shall we?"

She looked at him, impressed. She smiled. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

She took his hand and, just like Bonnie, led Stefan to the dance floor. "Okay, you know the rules, right?"

"I do."

"Good."

Caroline started to dance to the energetic song that was playing. Stefan, looking around, started to dance slowly. She slipped into a laugh.

"Oh my God," she threw her head back.

"Hey, don't laugh at my moves."

"I'm just—"

"Don't."

She laughed again and he smiled despite himself.

"That... That guy there," he pointed at the other part of the bar with his head. "He wanted to buy you a drink?"

"Who?"

"When you and Bonnie came out of the bathroom."

"Oh," she nodded. "Yeah, but I had one already. Do you think he'd buy me a pizza?"

He shook his head, amused, and she smiled.

"Name one thing you wished to be real but isn't."

Stefan furrowed his brow and shot her a wide-eyed look. "What kind of question is that?"

She shrugged, bopping.

"Hm, I don't know. Right now, my will to live."

"You're so dramatic!" she snorted and he laughed at her reaction. "I was thinking more along the line of unicorns."

"Actually, you remind me of one."

She threw her head back again, laughing. He closed his eyes and his eyelids tightened against the desire to just stare at her. The music changed suddenly to a slow song. He opened his eyes and saw her looking around. She seemed nervous, fiddling with her own hands.

Without thinking, he took one of her hands and pulled her to him. They looked into each other's eyes as his other hand tightened around her waist. She smiled at him and he felt his throat tauten. They started dancing to the rhythm of the ballad and he cleared his throat and looked down.

His lips flickered. "I can't believe it's been almost a year since you pretended to be my girlfriend in that wedding."

She stared at his neck with wide eyes. "Wha—. A year, already!"

"I know. Time flies."

"You know, if real life was a fandom, people would ship us."

Stefan looked down at her quickly, wondering if he'd just heard what he was thinking.

"There would be porn of us."

Stefan froze. He was staring at her with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, and that probably was what made her realize what she'd just said. She blushed and he noticed how her grip around his shoulder tightened.

"Not because—, I'm not saying—. I just meant that, you know, the thing of pretending to be a couple and all that," she cleared her throat and he tried to fight back a smile. "It's _so_ , you know, what happens in TV shows and movies and—" she cleared her throat again and shut her eyes.

He slipped into a laugh, which managed to draw her eyes open. She relaxed when she saw his carefree smile.

"That sounded so bad," she shook her head in embarrassment.

"It didn't."

She laughed, shaking her head. "It did."

"I'd totally get it," he moved his head with an egocentric gesture. "People _shipping_ us, I mean."

She giggled lightly. "Shut up."

"We're _so_ attractive."

She pinched his shoulder playfully. "Stop."

His eyes flickered back to hers and then he dropped his stare to her lips. She noticed and felt her skin heat up. Her blood was buzzing. His hand slipped along and he placed it against the small of her back to ease her forward.

What-was-happening-right-now. She felt his breath against her lips, his eyes set on her mouth. Her heart, she was scared it'd either explode or stop. She inhaled as she saw his jaw moving toward hers.

The music changed suddenly. A _Grease_ song started playing and everyone began to dance like in the movie. Caroline jolted apart really fast and swallowed the tightness of her throat.

"I—, uh..."

He stared at her, worried. Deep down, he was. What if he had ruined something? What if he had ruined their friendship by getting too close?

She pointed behind him. "I have to go to the bathroom."

He pursed his lips as she walked past him for the second time that night. He shut his eyes and ran a hand over his face, tired. He felt completely lost in this situation. He walked over to the bar and asked for another drink. Sometimes he thought there was really something between them. He was blind most of the times, but was he really imagining those sparks, those moments of tension, whether it was romantic or sexual?

He didn't know anymore, he really didn't. Being in love with your best friend was more complicated than he could've ever imagined. One bad step and he could fuck things up really fast. And he didn't want to do that. He didn't want to lose her.

Some time later, Bonnie and Damon walked toward him with a trophy in their hands. Bonnie was overjoyed.

"Can't believe we've been one of the winners!"

Damon snorted. "Yeah, sure. As if you haven't been training and practicing this past week for this."

She hit him in the stomach and he made a wince. "Where's Caroline?"

Stefan smiled as he tapped the glass with his fingers. "Hah, I have no _fucking_ idea. I think I scared her."

Damon and Bonnie glanced at each other, fearing the worst. Stefan looked up and frowned at one of the lamps.

"What the—, why does the moon look so small tonight?"

Yeah, he was drunk. Wasted. A lost cause.

Damon snatched his glass. "How much did you drink?"

Stefan tried to get back his glass. "Just a little bit, _bro_."

Damon looked at Bonnie. "This is bad," he murmured.

"I know."

"No, like _really_ bad."

"I _know_. He better not start say weird things as soon as Caroline's here. Maybe I should go find her."

"There she is."

Caroline smiled, surprised, when she saw the trophy on the bar. She clapped her hands. "Guys! You made it!"

Bonnie seemed proud. "Of course we did."

"Caroline Forbes, my best friend."

Hers and Bonnie and Damon's gazes veered toward Stefan.

"You look _hot_."

Caroline froze and Damon pursed his lips, fighting back a smile.

Bonnie stepped in. "Ignore him. He behaves like this when he's drunk."

The blonde frowned and looked at him, worried. "Why are you drinking so much?"

He lapsed into a laugh, but it was cut off but a sudden realization. "Oh, guys, guys! Didn't you say there was karaoke? Let's do that!"

"Maybe we should go back to the hotel," Damon suggested.

"No way, we came here to celebrate Bonnie's birthday. Let's get _crazy_ , where's the mic? My body is ready."

Stefan walked towards the stage as the others watched him carefully.

Caroline seemed worried. "Is he okay?"

"Don't worry, blondie. He hardly ever drinks like this and when he does this is what happens. But he'll be fine."

"Are you su—"

"Hello? Yes?" Stefan tapped the mic to see if it was working. "My name's Stefan, and I'm a writer. We're celebrating Bonnie's birthday, please show some respect!"

He pointed at her and everyone cheered. Bonnie waved her hand with an uncomfortable smile.

"The next song is called _When a Man Loves a Woman_ , and I wanna dedicate it to my crush."

"Wooh!" Damon cheered him. "Go, Stef!"

"Thank you, thank you."

Stefan started to sing, terrible, by the way, and everyone started to laugh, but also to sing. Bonnie glanced at Caroline, who was fighting back a laugh. Although she could also see something weird in her eyes.

"He's a mess."

Caroline nodded with a little smile. "I just don't get why she'd dedicate it to Valerie, I mean, she's not even here, you know?"

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at her, wondering if she was in denial or if she really was so oblivious and blind. Who were her friends?

The walk back to the hotel wasn't silent at all. Stefan couldn't stop talking. And the worst thing is that he was telling a story about aliens. Aliens.

"It's so funny when he gets drunks," Damon said to Bonnie and Caroline as he helped Stefan walk along the corridor. "Home, sweet home."

Bonnie groaned. "I can't believe we're almost in our rooms. I'm so tired."

Damon opened the door of his and Stefan's room as Bonnie did the same thing with hers and Caroline's. They both disappeared into them and Stefan grabbed Caroline's arm.

"Hey."

She rested her frame against the wall and folded her arms. "What?"

"Have you had fun tonight?"

She couldn't help but smile at the sight of his heavy eyelids. "Yeah."

"No, I mean with me. Have you had fun with me?"

She stared at him in silence and then nodded.

"You're the on—, the only person I enjoy dancing with, you know?"

Her face and gestures softened at the comment. "Maybe you aren't such a bad dancer."

"Oh, no, I am."

She laughed and he smiled, exhausted.

"You must be reason for global warming."

She frowned at the unexpected and sudden comment. What was he even—

"Because you're hot."

Caroline pursed her lips, not avoiding his gaze this time. His lines were the worst.

"Actually, it's primarily because of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere."

Stefan seemed caught-off guard for a second, but then he gave her a little smile.

"Nice response."

"I know."

"That's why I like you."

A beat of silence fell over them and her pulse tripped at the comment.

"Wait, what do you mean, you _like_ me?"

"I wish I could eat a pretzel right now."

"Stefan?"

"And a pizza. A gigantic pizza."

She grabbed the hem of his shirt. He literally seemed oblivious to what he had just said. "What do you mean?"

He pressed his lips against her forehead quickly and then turned around. "Good night."

He disappeared into the room as the door closed. Unbelievable.

* * *

The return journey to home would've been extremely quiet if it hadn't been for Damon and Bonnie doing most of the talking. Stefan's hangover was so strong that he really thought he was half dying.

Caroline felt a little bit anxious after everything that happened the day before. And she hated it, because she wasn't used to feeling this way. On the contrary, she was always the one talking, rambling, singing when it came to a road trip.

Her shoulders softened once they arrived to the apartment and Damon turned on the lights. They were finally home, which meant that things would go back to normal soon, as soon as they left the whole trip behind, as soon as they just went to their bedrooms and sleep the entire night.

"I think I'm gonna pass out, see ya," Damon waved his hand over his head as he walked toward his bedroom.

Bonnie yawned and stretched her arms. "Same here. I'm exhausted. Night."

Bonnie disappeared behind the door of her room and a beat of silence fell over Stefan and Caroline. He rubbed his neck and looked at her.

"Do you need help with your bags?"

She smiled softly at him. No matter what, he was always the gentleman. "It's fine. For once I think I'll leave them here and unpack tomorrow."

He shot her a wide-eyed look, impressed. "Caroline Forbes leaving all her stuff packed? Are we talking about the same control-freak Caroline Forbes I know?"

She shook her head, laughing. And he smiled too. She suddenly felt more relaxed, relieved that things weren't being awkward between them. Because she honest to God couldn't imagine her world without his presence, without her best friend.

"Are you feeling better? You know, the hangover."

He nodded. "I've still got a headache, but I'm pretty sure it'll go away as soon as I sleep it off."

"It was kind of funny, see you in all your drunk glory."

He chuckled and rubbed his neck. "Yeah, not sure I think the same way as you."

She stared at him for a second, and then, without thinking, without biting her tongue, she let out what she'd been thinking the whole day.

"So, that song you dedicated to Valerie, you should've got it recorded for her."

She cursed herself mentally. Too much for not making things awkward.

Her comment threw him for a second. His brow furrowed and then his lips pressed together in a thin line. He looked down with a tight-lipped smile. So that's why she'd reacted evasive the last few days. He seemed amused, which made her skin prickle with a little bit of irritation.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, uh...," he looked at her. "Valerie and I broke up a few days ago."

The unexpected declaration made her eyes flicker back up to his. Her face lit up in surprise, caught-off guard. Her lips started to slip into a little, helpless smile.

She started to fiddle with the hem of her shorts. "I—" she shot him a big smile, unable to repress it, and he smiled in response. "I actually had fun his weekend, didn't you? I mean, in general, it was fun and we went to the beach and—"

There she was. Caroline was back to being her usual self, all cheerful, and happy, and bubbly. She was rambling, talking nonstop, and he gazed lovingly at her. He tried to stay focused, but it was hard, so hard. His feet moved toward her unconsciously as she kept rambling.

"—seeing you dance was worthy, I guess," she lapsed into a bright laugh and he smiled in response. "And sing, what were you even thinking to get on that stage and—"

She kept rambling and he held her gaze for a second before cupping her face with his hands. He began pulling her frame into him and her mind immediately blanked. His mouth caught hers in a sudden kiss, his head spinning.

Her body stiffened beneath him. His lips started to move slowly against hers, and she eased into him. Her blood was buzzing, her pulse was going frantic. She lifted a hand to grip his shirt tightly and in response his mouth softened against hers.

He pulled back after a few seconds and she opened her eyes slowly. Her breath was unsteady against his lips. He looked into her eyes, which made her stomach flutter.

Stefan forced himself to swallow and cleared his throat, voice thick. "I—"

His voice was cut off when her hands slid up his shoulders to cup his neck to pull his mouth back onto hers. One of his hands eased into her hair and his arm eased around her waist until her frame was completely against his. Her mouth grew hungrier on his and she cupped his face with her hands.

Her back hit the wall when his body pressed into hers. Their lips were a constant battle for leadership until her mouth softened this time and she pulled back with a sigh.

When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her. His eyes dark, hungry. He swallowed and licked his lips. Her stomach tingled again, her breath was unsteady.

He dropped his hands from her hair and, disoriented, gave two steps backward and then turned around to head to his room. When the door closed behind him, she pressed a hand against her heart.

She needed to calm down.

She needed to breathe.

She needed to get her heart back to a normal speed.

Wow.

* * *

 _Hi there! Sorry for having taken 8 months to update. I lost inspiration and I was busy with work and it took me a while to sit down and try to write again. I wish I'd written this chapter better, but well. Hopefully you guys will like it. I'd really appreciate comments with reviews and feedback. xo!_


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER X: Slow**

 _August 2018_

"What have I done, what have I done, what have I done."

Stefan hadn't been able to sleep that night. Oreo was biting one of his shoes on his bed as he was spinning in the swivel chair. He ran his hands over his face, tired.

"God, what have I done."

He was aware that he was behaving like a maniac, but he couldn't help it. He glanced at Oreo for a second before sitting next to him on the bed. He took a deep breath.

"So, here's the thing. I kissed her, I did it. My mind went blank, I couldn't think of anything else and I just acted without thinking about the consequences, I just did it."

Oreo tilted his head at him, as if he really was listening and understanding what Stefan was saying.

"I know, I know. Don't look at me like that. I don't know if what I did is wrong or right, I—. She was just there, and I was too, and I wanted to kiss her, simple as that."

Oreo walked toward his legs and got on his lap. He rested his front paws on his chest and he looked at Stefan as he moved his tail.

Stefan frowned at him. "I know it's not _that_ simple, but it was in the moment. Look," he started to scratch behind Oreo's ear, "I'd wanted to do it for so long, so long bud. What do you think I should do?"

Oreo barked.

"What does that even mean?"

Oreo barked again and Stefan snorted.

"I wish I knew dog language, I really do. So, I thought of writing a list of pros and cons, you know? It's something I learned from her, actually. Because, we're friends. Hell, she's my best friend. Imagine if we dated, and then broke up? That would be so messy. What was I thinking?"

Oreo tried to lick his face but Stefan pulled back.

"And it could also ruin things in the apartment, you know. And we've been doing great this last year. I wouldn't want her to move out? Just like I know she wouldn't want me to? And, it's complicated, Oreo. It's just so difficult. I don't know what to do."

Oreo, not getting the attention he was craving, went back to his corner of the bed and hid his face under his leg.

"Thank you for ignoring me, by the way. Really appreciate it in this time of need. Anyway, the thing is, why am I even thinking about break ups when we haven't even tried? But the thing is, would she want to? Try, I mean?"

"What the hell are you doing?"

Stefan turned around fast. How long had Damon been there? God.

"When are you going to learn to knock, Damon?"

"Sorry, I just walked by the door and heard you and I couldn't resist," he chuckled. "Were you talking to the dog?"

"Damon, I did something. I did something bad."

"Did you forget to recycle the rubbish again?"

"What? No." He closed the door and grabbed his arm to pull him to the window. "Look at me."

"Hm, okay?"

"Damon, I haven't slept, at all. I'm going through a stressful situation here. For once in my life, I need your help."

"Right."

"I kissed her."

"What?"

"I kissed Caroline."

Damon's confused face turned into a cheerful one. "Jesus Christ, finally! Let's open a bottle of champagne, this is big news."

"No, Damon, listen. I don't know if I screwed up, okay? I have all these mixed feelings, and I'm confused and honestly there are so many pros but also so many cons, and I just—"

Damon grabbed him by the shoulders. "First of all, breathe. Second of all, what did she say?"

"Well, nothing, that's the thing. We kissed and I just bailed."

"You're such an idiot."

"I know."

"Okay, so now what?"

"I was thinking, maybe a pros vs cons list?"

Damon's face was flat. "Really."

"Yeah."

"Really."

"Yes."

Meanwhile, in Bonnie's bedroom, there was a very nervous Caroline counting how many books her friend had in her shelves. She'd sneaked into the room two hours ago, at 6 a.m., because, who was she kidding? There was no way she'd be able to sleep after what happened last night.

"Thirty two."

Bonnie frowned in her sleep and noticed that the place next to hers was occupied. "Caroline?"

"Hey."

Bonnie put her head under the pillow. "What are you doing here?"

Caroline hummed and tapped her fingers against her leg. "Nothing, just, you know. Here."

"Yeah, sure. Really, what's wrong?"

"Stefan kissed me."

There was no way Bonnie could've looked at her faster than she did. "WHAT."

"Last night, he just—" she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. "He grabbed me, he cupped my face like in a friggin' movie and kissed me."

"Are you serious right now?"

She delivered a high-pitched laughter. "Oh, very serious, so serious that when he stopped, I kissed him again." She stared into space wide-eyed. "I was a hunter and he was my prey."

Bonnie pursed her lips. "Gross, but okay."

"I haven't slept at all, Bonnie. AT ALL. I can only think about the kiss, okay? I can't get it out of my mind."

"Awww, but that's so cute!"

"Is it, Bonnie Bennet? Is it? I don't know, like, what does this mean? Does he like me? Since when? Do I actually like him? Or am I just confused?" Caroline started to talk very fast. "Is this even okay? I mean, what if we actually like each other and go for it?"

"Because that would be so bad."

She tossed a frustrated hand up. "Well, yeah! What if we date and then we break up? That would be so annoying, for us, and also for you. We're roommates, we can't forget that."

"Right."

"And he's my best friend. I don't want to lose him. What if it turns into a messy situation and we lose all this?"

Bonnie sighed.

Caroline groaned. "Tell me about it. I'm dying here."

"How was the kiss?"

"Perfect."

Caroline pursed her lips as Bonnie grinned. She'd asked fast to catch her off-guard.

"That's not the point, though."

"Okay, what do you want to do then?"

"I thought of writing a list, cons and pros, that kind of thing."

"Such a Caroline Forbes thing to do, I can't with you right now."

"Get some paper and a pen, I need you for this."

...

"Okay, so, she stands up for what she believes in. Like when she faced her boss to write a column about feminism and women and all that? I like that."

...

"He's so talented. He could do anything he sets his mind to. He's good with the guitar, he's so intelligent, and he writes so well. Also, he's good with kids. I—, I'm not saying I'm thinking of having kids with him already, though."

...

"She's passionate and she lights up my day. Literally her optimism and bubbly and cheerful personality is something that I didn't know I needed until I met her."

...

"He's honest and genuine. And not all guys are like that, you know? He's so upfront with me, I like that."

...

"She's kind, understanding and generous. She's always there to help others without even thinking it twice. And fun, she's so fun. I enjoy her company."

...

"He sees, accepts and respects me for who I am in a way few people do. You know, considering my control-freakiness and all that."

...

"She's helped me learn a lot about myself. I've found parts of me I didn't know were there. And we're a good team."

...

"I can share my thoughts and feelings with him, and he's always been there for me when I needed it. Also, I love those stupid green eyes."

...

"Her smile, have you seen her smile?"

...

"His back? Oh my God his back. And the height difference turns me on."

Bonnie cleared her throat as she wrote. "Okay."

...

"And her legs, I just don't know why but I'm obsessed with them. And with her hands, and with her hair."

Damon chuckled. "Easy, man."

...

"That small, soft smile of his drives me crazy, for real."

"Okay, okay. Enough with the pros. Cons?"

Caroline sighed. "He could hurt me, really bad."

...

"I guess she has big chances of hurting me if things go bad."

...

"Or he could get tired of me and, you know, leave or something."

Caroline cleared her throat and looked away. Bonnie glanced at her.

"Is there a little chance that you're scared of getting attached to someone after what your dad did to you and your mom?"

"I don't know, maybe?"

...

"She could get bored with me, I mean, look at us. She's an extrovert, I'm an introvert. She could leave me."

Damon snorted. "You're projecting."

"What?"

"You're just scared of intimacy, Stefan. Dad abandoned us and you think every person that comes to your life is going to do the same."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

...

"What matters the most, though, is that he's my—"

...

"—best friend."

"So?"

"So I don't want to lose her if for some reason it ends up badly. She's Caroline, Damon. She's not some random person or friend, she's _Caroline_."

"Okay, but do you really think her being your best friend is a con? Maybe it's the opposite, maybe it's a big pro because that means you know each other well enough already."

...

Bonnie sighed. "Look, whatever you decide or do, I think you just need to take things slowly and not rush. It's important that you're very sure of your next step. Though I think that the fact that you two are best friends will only help and not be an obstacle."

Caroline rubbed her forehead. "Yeah, maybe."

"Also, it's important that you ask yourself what you want to do. Like, when you think of him, what comes to your mind right now?"

"The kiss."

"Okay, what else?"

"I want to bone him, so bad."

"Caroline! God, I'm so done with you."

She laughed. "What?! You asked, I answered!"

* * *

Caroline had agreed to do one thing: stay calm and handle things the best way possible. There was no reason to freak out or to act awkward or weird. Sooner or later, she and Stefan would have to sit down and have the talk.

However, when she walked into the living room and saw Stefan in the kitchen, she stiffened. Yes, she knew they had to talk, she just wasn't expecting it to happen that soon.

She gave a step backwards and her foot stepped on Damon's remote controlled car. She hissed and Stefan looked up from his phone with a toast in his hand. He froze and opened his mouth but didn't say a word. He averted his gaze and cleared his throat.

"Hey."

Caroline ran a hand through her hair as she walked over to him.

"Hey."

She sat on the stool opposite him and fixed her eyes on the table as she bit her lower lip. Stefan's lips formed a thin line.

"So... How are you?"

"I'm good."

Stefan nodded. "Good."

"How are you?"

"I'm good, good."

"Good... That's... good."

"Yeah. I, uh... made some coffee," he pushed the coffee pot and a cup toward her. "Do you...?"

She offered him a small smile. "Yeah, thanks."

Silence fell over them as Caroline sipped her coffee and Stefan tapped his fingers on the table. His gaze veered toward her and he looked carefully at her freckles. She noticed and blushed, almost choking on her coffee.

He shut his eyes. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to be awkward, I just—"

"Why would it be awkward?" Caroline replied fast, without thinking. "You kissed me last night. That's not awkward at all," she said with a high-pitched laugh.

He pursed his lips and rubbed his neck. "Yeah, totally."

She couldn't bite her tongue anymore. "Okay, what were you thinking, Stefan?"

He seemed frustrated. "I wasn't thinking, I just—I just did it."

"That's obvious."

"Hey, I wasn't the only active participant in that kiss!"

Caroline opened her mouth to protest but she realized she had no excuses. "Yeah, well, what was I supposed to do? Anyway, that's not the point! You kissed me."

"Yeah, I know."

"No, Stefan, you kissed _me_."

"Caroline, I _know_."

"Okay, so what are we supposed to do now? We need to talk about this, we can't just—" she sighed and ran her hands through her hair. Stefan dropped his stare to her mouth as she bit her lower lip again. "What are we just supposed to—"

She looked at him and noticed how his stare had darkened. Her stomach tingled and her pulse tripped. He held her gaze for a second before looking down.

Caroline cleared her throat before speaking. "The question is, what did you think of it? I mean, what are your thoughts now? We can... We can talk about this, we're friends. Best friends, actually."

She lapsed into a nervous laugh and his eyes flickered back up to hers.

He decided to go for it.

"I think it was a pretty good kiss."

She froze and stared at him with wide eyes. Stefan being so direct wasn't helping her cause.

"What?"

"Yeah," he folded his arms.

She cleared her throat. "Well, why did you have to kiss me like that? Couldn't you just have done it less, less...?"

His brows flew up and he threw his head back with an amused smile. "So, what you're saying is that you liked it."

She choked. "What?"

"You liked the kiss. You liked that I kissed you. It's fine, you can admit it."

She lapsed into another nervous laugh, this time a longer one.

"Come on, just admit it. Tell the truth, Caroline."

The bells in her mind warned her not to do it. _Abort_ , _abort_ , _abort_. _Don't tell the truth_. _Avoid the truth_. _Do I have to remind you that people in your life always leave at the end? Do you want him to disappear? What if you fall out? What if you fight? What if you lose your best friend?_

"Fine, you want the truth? It meant nothing to me, absolutely nothing."

He looked at her and narrowed his eyes, confused.

"Are you sure?"

She wasn't. "Yes."

"Completely."

Of course not, but she nodded. "Yes."

"So we just ignore all this."

She kept nodding.

"We just... Forget it happened."

"Yes, Stefan. Do you want me to spell it out for you or what?"

He looked into her eyes and she felt vulnerable. She realized she had sounded a little bit harsh.

"Sorry, I—" she swallowed. "I just want us to be okay, Stefan. I don't want to lose you, you know?" she looked down. "You're my best friend."

His face went sad. Maybe he'd expected things to go differently.

He forced a smile. "Hey, we're okay. We're fine."

She looked up. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it was just a stupid, random, meaningless kiss. I don't even know what I was thinking, actually. Let's just forget the whole thing."

Caroline frowned slightly. She knew she didn't have the right to feel offended after what she'd just said, yet Stefan downplaying the kiss kind of hurt her.

She opened her mouth but his phone suddenly rung.

"I, uh... I've got to take this."

She nodded with a bitter smile and Stefan headed to the terrace.

She shut her eyes and massaged her temples. "God, I really am an idiot, huh?"

Caroline looked at him over her shoulder. _Why can't I just stop being scared for once? Why can't I just tell him what I really feel and see what happens._

 _... You know why. This isn't just some crush._

Stefan hung up and stared at his phone screen for a few seconds with a frown. When he looked at her, she immediately knew something was wrong.

* * *

Caroline had wanted to meet Stefan's family for a while now, but she'd never thought, or hoped, that she'd meet them in such circumstances.

The taxi stopped in front of a pretty house that was part of a residential area with almost identical houses.

She looked at Stefan, who was sitting on the co-driver seat. He had a serious face, and he seemed calm, but deep down she knew he was worried and having a stressful time. Maybe this whole situation reminded him of his mom.

"So," Stefan checked his phone. "Damon and I are going to the hospital from here. Will you guys be okay?"

Caroline frowned and leaned forward. "But—"

"Yeah," Bonnie ventured. "Don't worry about us. But text us with updates as soon as possible."

Stefan nodded. "Will do."

"But can't we go with you?"

She really wanted to be with Stefan. She knew how he was, she'd say that she knew better than anyone, actually. He'd take responsibility, because in these cases Stefan seemed more of the old brother than Damon, and he'd bottle all his feelings and worries up like he used to do. And it wasn't as if Damon would force him to let everything out.

"It's better if we go first. Our family's already there and it could get too crowded," Damon intervened. "But you guys can come tomorrow. Just try to make yourselves home."

Caroline opened her mouth to complain but Bonnie nudged her and gave her a warning look.

"Yeah, okay."

She and Bonnie followed the taxi with their eyes until it disappeared in a corner of the street. The brunette sighed.

"Okay, I think they have a key in that flowerpot."

They left the bags in the hall and looked around. Too much silence.

"Let's see if there's anything to drink. Alcohol, preferably."

Caroline offered a small smile and then she got distracted by a picture frame. It was a photo of Stefan and Damon as kids, with their mom.

She showed it to Bonnie with a pout. "Look at him."

Bonnie folded her arms and shook her head with a judgmental face. "You're so whipped."

Caroline's face got more serious and Bonnie noticed.

"Did you guys manage to talk about... you know, you two?"

Caroline folded her arms and leaned against the wall. "We kind of did, but right now what matters to me the most is that he's okay. I'm worried about him, he has this tendency of bottling everything up and—"

"He'll be fine," Bonnie stroked Caroline's arm affectionately. "Damon will take care of him."

Caroline snorted. "You think?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I mean, we know he's a mess, but at least his stupid jokes will cheer Stefan up."

Caroline smiled. "Yeah, maybe. I wonder what caused it, you know. Like, why did their aunt have a heart attack like that?"

Bonnie let out a long sigh. "I have no idea, but we'll know soon."

Caroline nodded. Yesterday, after Stefan had got the call, he told her that his uncle had called to tell them that aunt Ellie had had a heart attack and that she was hospitalized. They searched for flight tickets and Caroline told them she was going to go with them.

Stefan tried to convince her not to, but she knew better.

"You helped me with my mom last Christmas, so I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

Bonnie said that if Caroline was going, she was coming too, and at the end the four of them got on the plane. And here they were.

"Let's take the bags upstairs. The house is pretty big, I think there's an extra room. We can take it."

They left the suitcases in such bedroom. They hadn't brought many things and clothes with them. They were optimistic and thought that everything would be okay and that Ellie would get well soon.

Caroline went to Stefan's bedroom to have a look. Of course, the shelves were filled with lots of books just like in the apartment. There were many picture frames on the desk, and he had all his graduation stuff on the wall.

There were posters of movies about aliens on the wall as well, which made her snort and smile, and a drawing of a fish, which she assumed was Tommy.

She ran a brief glance over the bulletin board and her gaze landed on a party ticket. She took it and watched it carefully with a frown. It seemed familiar.

A knock on the door made her jolt. Bonnie pointed at the stairs over her shoulder. "Hey, Nick's here—" Nick was Stefan and Damon's uncle. That is, Ellie's husband. "—and Emily, and Zach and Gail are here too."

Emily and Zach were the cousins, Nick and Ellie's children. Gail was Zach's wife.

"Bonnie, how are you, dear?" Emily hugged her and Bonnie offered a smile.

"I'm good, I'm sorry to intrude like this."

Zach put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, not at all. Thank you for coming."

"This is Caroline," Bonnie grabbed her by the arm to pull her closer. "She moved in with us last year."

Caroline smiled at everyone and waved a hand. "Hi."

"Oh, of course!" Emily smiled at Caroline. "Stefan has told us about you."

"Too much, I'd say," Zach said. "He won't shut up about you that little—"

Gail nudged him and Zach winced.

"Gail!"

"Don't be nosy."

Zach snorted. "Anyway, we really wanted to meet you. Welcome to the Salvatore family."

Caroline laughed. "You all are very kind. Thank you for letting us stay here. For the record, I told the boys that we could stay in a hotel, but Stefan insisted."

"No way," Nick said. "You two take care of our boys every single day, the least we can do is let you stay. I'm going to get some things for Ellie and head back to the hospital. It's very good to see you, Bonnie. Nice to meet you, Caroline."

They smiled at Nick as he went upstairs.

"Yes, Damon told us everything," Zach said. "Can't believe you're making Stefan have fun, he's such a—"

Bonnie pursed her lips to fight back a grin.

Gail grabbed Zach's arm. "Honey, why don't we go home? Sarah's probably going to call and we'll miss it, don't you think?"

"Sure, see you later, girls."

"I have to make a call," Emily pointed at the kitchen. "You guys good? Do you need anything?"

"We're good, Em. Don't worry."

As Emily walked over to the kitchen, Bonnie looked at Caroline from the corner of her eye. She was blushing.

"What did just happen."

"Something tells me that Stefan has talked too much about you to his family, that's what just happened."

Caroline covered her face with her hands and Bonnie chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that he's been very normal. We should be worried about Damon, though, who knows what he's told the others."

Caroline looked at Bonnie between her fingers.

"Like, I don't know, the whole seeing Stefan naked thing, or that time when you broke his hand—"

"Oh my God."

"—that was funny."

"They're going to think I'm some psycho."

Bonnie lapsed into a laugh. "Listen, they probably like this Stefan better. We all do."

Caroline dropped her hands and sighed. "If Damon dares to open his mouth while I'm here, I'm going to destroy him."

"Sign me up."

* * *

As soon as she heard a drag of feet in the hallway, she blinked several times until she opened her eyes completely. She could recognize those steps anywhere.

Caroline got out of the bed carefully not to wake Bonnie and slipped out of the room. Stefan's door was slightly open and she headed toward his room. It was dark, but she could see him laying on his side on the bed, his back to her.

He had put on some sweatpants and a basic white t-shirt. She sighed and walked over to the bed. He didn't say anything when he noticed a weight settling behind him.

Caroline got closer to him and put an arm around his waist. She heard him let out a long sigh as he covered her hand with his and his frame leaned into her chest instinctively.

She got closer to him and hid her face in his neck. "Hey."

His voice seemed tired. "Hey."

"I know it's a stupid question, given the circumstances, but are you okay?"

"Yeah, just tired."

She nodded against his neck and his shoulders seemed to relax against her.

"How's she?"

"Resting. The doctors want her to stay in the hospital for at least one more day to run some tests. Apparently, there's risk of another heart attack after the first one, so... Damon convinced me to spend the night at home, he's still there."

"I wish I could help."

"You're here."

She snorted. "That's not helping."

"It helps _me_."

She smiled softly as he interlaced his fingers with hers.

"I'm sorry, about not wanting you to come. I was wrong."

She gasped. "You were?"

He smiled and shook his head. "I think the reason why I didn't want you to was because... I knew you were the one person who...," he sighed, "would, you know, sit with me and let me cry, and all of that."

"You can't keep everything inside as you usually do, Stefan."

"I know, I just—, I'm just worried, you know?"

He turned around to look at her and settled his head on the pillow.

"After my mom, time passed and I actually thought we'd be immune to any other tragedy," he snorted. "As if that was even possible, but, I don't know, it caught me off-guard, I guess."

She nodded. "I get that. But hey, it'll be okay. We'll go check on her tomorrow."

He stared at her affectionately. _We_. He liked how that sounded.

She frowned. "What?"

The quirk of his lips was soft. "Nothing. I'm just glad you're here."

Her lips formed a small smile and she put an arm around his shoulders to pull him closer. She wrapped him with her arms and his head leaned against her shoulder.

He closed his eyes and she rested her cheek against his head. Eventually, she dropped off as well.

...

But when Caroline patted the space beside her and opened her eyes the next morning due to the sunlight, she realized that Stefan was gone.

She walked into the kitchen, where Emily was having breakfast. She smiled at her and leaned against the door frame.

"Uh... Do you know if Stefan left early? We agreed to go together to the hospital and he's nowhere to be found."

She felt slightly guilty for feeling left behind, especially with everything that was going on with his aunt. But she really wanted to be at his side.

Emily shot her a knowing smile. "Don't worry. He hasn't gone to the hospital yet, he's at the cemetery."

Caroline furrowed her brow. Had something happened?

"He's visiting Lily's grave, I guess. He does it every time he's back," Emily shrugged. "The cemetery is two streets away."

Caroline nodded, unsure of what to do. Emily nodded at the chair in front of her and she took a seat.

"He left coffee for you, and some fruit."

Caroline rolled her eyes and shook her head, but the fact that he'd made breakfast for her warmed her smile and Emily noticed. Caroline realized and cleared her throat quickly.

"He, uh... He always does that, you know? I mean, I'm awful at anything related to the kitchen, so he always makes sure I'm fed," Caroline shook her head again. "He's ridiculous."

"Mm."

Emily watched her carefully and Caroline brought the cup of coffee to her lips.

"Guess you're considering going after him."

Caroline nodded and set the cup back on the table. "I'm pretty sure you know, you've known him longer than I have, of course, but he has this tendency to keep everything to himself and he doesn't realize how unhealthy that is."

Emily nodded in agreement. "Trust me, we know. He's always been like that since Lily died. Though," her lips formed a smile, "we've seen him looser for a while now. Of course, he still has a lot to work on, but, we've noticed a change in him."

Caroline blushed, thinking that maybe she knew where Emily was getting at.

"We never noticed a change with Valerie or Elena, however—"

Caroline crinkled her nose and Emily shook with laughter.

"Relax."

"I am relaxed!"

"No, you're not. But it's funny to see."

"See what?"

Emily grinned with steady eye contact and raised eyebrows.

"Do you love him?"

Caroline choked on the coffee and looked down and away, having trouble maintaining eye contact. "Oh, no, no," she lapsed into a nervous laugh. "Stefan and I aren't together."

"I never mentioned his name, you know."

She shot Emily a come-on look. Caroline shook her head. "You're so direct."

Emily shrugged. "Just stating the obvious."

"Ooookay," Caroline set her hands down and pushed herself up to her feet, "I'm gonna go find him."

Emily blinked at her. "You do that."

Caroline rolled her eyes as she turned.

She found him twenty minutes later in front of Lily's grave, just like Emily had said. Stefan had a serious look, of course, and his hands were inside the pockets of his jeans.

Caroline approached him and tangled an arm with one of his own and rested her head on his shoulder. "Hey."

"How do you keep showing up when I need you the most?"

She smiled, staring at Lily's photo on the grave. "It's a superpower. I didn't tell you?"

He hummed. "No, I don't think so."

"Oh, well. Now you know. I have this inner alarm that goes off and says _Hey, Stefan's brooding again, go check on him_. So, that's why I'm here. I came to save you."

Caroline pulled her head back to look at him with a smile and he shot her a soft and grateful look.

"You probably did."

She rolled her eyes and nodded at Lily's grave. "She's pretty."

Stefan sighed and put an arm around her to rub her arm up and down. "Yeah."

"And she was red-haired, wow."

He smiled. "I know."

Caroline hesitated, but she needed to ask. "Uh... No news of your dad? He's not going to... come?"

Stefan pressed his lips together. "No, Damon called him but he's on vacation, so."

She bit her lip. Maybe she shouldn't have asked. But the fact that Damon had been the one that had called their dad, and not Stefan, only proved that Stefan didn't want to talk to his dad.

"She'd be proud of you."

He crinkled his nose in disbelief just like she'd done with Emily. "I don't know about that."

She nudged him in the ribs softly. "Stefan, she'd be proud, okay? Don't fight me on this."

"Who wants to fight Caroline Forbes? I know I wouldn't stand a chance."

She giggled and he pulled her closer instinctively. She lifted a hand to cup his farthest cheek and pull his face to her. She pressed her lips against his other cheek as she rubbed the other one with her fingers.

He couldn't fight back his thoughts. "I don't know what I'd without you, seriously."

She pulled back to look back at him and he gave her the most honest and frank look of adoration. Her heart skipped a beat and his look dropped to her mouth.

"Stefan, Caroline!"

He pulled back immediately and she followed the sound of the voice. Damon was waving his hand to catch their attention.

"Let's go!" he pointed behind him. "The car's ready."

* * *

Stefan introduced Caroline to aunt Ellie as soon as they walked into the room. She looked much better than before, according to Damon. He'd said she'd recovered the red colorof her cheeks and the sparkle of her eyes.

She'd been watching some cooking show with Nick before they arrived, and she looked content.

The doctor came with good news. He'd studied all the tests and announced that she'd be able to be discharged that same day if she wanted. Of course, she'd have to follow a treatment at home. Ellie nodded enthusiastically and said she needed her make-up, so Bonnie suggested that Damon, Nick and Stefan should go get it while they stayed with Ellie.

"And I'll go get you some snacks, Ellie. Caramel ones?"

" _Please_."

Bonnie nodded with a smile as she disappeared behind the door.

"Big fan of caramel stuff?" Caroline ventured.

"Oh, dear. I love it. It's not good for my age, but," Ellie shrugged. "I can't help it. You too?"

"Yeah. I love sugar with all my heart."

Ellie chuckled and Caroline smiled. Then she watched her carefully.

"Can I ask you something?"

Ellie looked at her with curiosity. "Shoot."

Caroline sighed and sat on the end of the bed. "What's the deal with Stefan and his dad? What's your opinion about all that?"

Ellie brought a finger to her lips, thoughtful. "Mm, well. I'm biased because Lily was my sister and—"

"And he was a dick because he abandoned her when she needed him the most, I agree."

Caroline realized how she'd expressed her thoughts instantly and shot Ellie a wide-eyed look.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that, I—"

"Hey, don't worry about me. He _was_ a dick," Ellie sighed. "But that's the thing. I'm biased, as I said. I'm a grown woman, an adult," she scoffed, "and I'm going to tell you that my opinion is that Giuseppe deserves all the silent treatment that he's getting from Stefan, that he doesn't deserve a son like him, just like he doesn't deserve Damon either. He deserves nothing."

Caroline sat up, caught-off guard by Ellie's response. Wow.

"And I'd love to tell you something like: he should talk to his father and make up, leave the past behind. But I think he still resents him, and who can blame him. But I'm not the best person to ask that, and I know my feelings are wrong, but sometimes it takes long to forgive someone, you know?"

Caroline nodded. "I get that," her lips pressed together into a thin line, "trust me, I really do."

"Family issues?"

Caroline sighed. "Let's say... Let's say my dad kind of abandoned me and my mom as well. I mean, of course it doesn't compare to Stefan's thing. Lily was sick, for God's sake, but—"

"But it hurts the same way."

She bit her lower lip. "Totally."

"I get that," Ellie said, mirroring Caroline's words. "Trust me, I really do."

Caroline shot her a smile. "I think that's the reason why Stefan and I share some kind of bond, you know. We have similar history with our dads."

Ellie looked at her with a commiserative face. "Pretty sure that's only a small part of what connects you two."

Caroline twisted her lips. "You think? I mean, you don't really know me."

"Stefan has told me enough to feel like I do. Do you want to know how I see it?"

"Sure."

"He needed a completely new person in his life that wasn't aware of his past and history from the very beginning. Why? Because he needed to see if there's much to him apart from the sad story of losing a mom being so young and being abandoned by a dad. He needed a person that saw beyond that. And you made him have fun. And he hadn't had fun in _years_. Can't believe he agreed to dance with you."

Caroline blushed and looked down, shaking her head.

"And that's not the only thing. The important thing is that he came forward and told you about Giuseppe. Damon has told me everything," she chuckled. "He's never told anyone about his dad, you know. He doesn't share those kinds of things, with anyone. And yet, you were the first person he opened himself to. You know how big that is? He trusted you enough to tell you."

"But he didn't really want to talk about it when he did. He kept denying he's hurt."

"He probably was scared of your reaction. I think he's scared everyone's going to leave him, that poor thing."

"I would never do that."

Caroline's throat closed right after saying that. Had she really said that aloud? She looked down at her hands and cleared her throat. Ellie shot her a comforting smile.

"I think he's just as scared as you are."

Caroline looked up at her.

"Don't break his heart, will you? He's gone through enough."

She forced herself to swallow and nodded slowly. She opened her mouth to say something but Bonnie came back with lots of snacks.

* * *

Stefan rolled his eyes for the fifth time as Caroline tugged his sleeve to show him a photo of himself as a kid.

"But look at you! You were so cute!"

Ellie lapsed into a laugh when she saw Stefan's discomfort and embarrassment. Nick opened the front door and turned on the lights of the hall.

Stefan's brow furrowed. "You _are_ , you mean."

Nick and Ellie exchanged a look and a small smile. Damon rubbed a hand over his face.

"This is what I have to deal with every single day," he murmured.

"You're just jealous because you appear drooling in all your photos," Bonnie stated.

"Hey!"

"Stefan even did some modelling. Remember, Nick?"

He nodded at his wife. "Oh, definitely."

Caroline froze and looked at Stefan. "WHAT."

Stefan waved the comment off. "Let it go, please," he glanced at Nick and Ellie. "Guys, please, just don't throw more bombs for this one here," he nodded at Caroline with his head. "She's gonna use all this against me once we're back home."

Caroline lapsed into a bright laugh. "I can't believe you did modelling! I have to tell my mom."

" _Caroline_."

She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and tugged, excited. "But it's so funny!"

He rested a hand on the top of her head. "Enough information for you."

Damon hummed. "Actually..."

Stefan shot him a warning glance. "Damon, _no_."

Damon smirked in response. "Damon, yes."

"Don't you da—"

"When Lily took him to film one of those TV diapers commercials, he took the diaper off and started pooping everywhere, and then he started to run around and no one could get him."

Ellie and Nick chuckled as they headed to the couch.

Caroline started to giggle with a wide-eyed look. "No way."

"I'm so going to kill you, Damon. Even if it's the last thing I do."

Damon smirked. "There's even footage. Do you want to see it, blondie? Bonnie has the video on her phone."

"Of course I wa—"

"YOU SENT IT TO BONNIE?!"

Bonnie laughed. "Dude, I've had it for like two years."

Caroline looked at Stefan and a laugh slipped out of her throat.

"Here, watch."

"Oh, _nononono_."

Stefan snatched the phone and thrust it up in the air to hold it out of Caroline's reach.

"Stefan, come on!"

"Why are you so determined to watch me suffer?"

She rolled her eyes with a smile. "You're so dramatic. Please!"

Caroline attempted to take the phone but Stefan hid it behind his back. "No."

She put her arms around him, trying to steal it from him. "Please, please, please." She rested her chin against his chest and looked up at him, pouting. "Please."

He looked down and his mind immediately blanked due to her proximity, forgetting what he was even doing. He stared at her for a few seconds and everyone averted their gazes, clearly getting the vibe of being in the wrong place at the wrong moment. Except Damon, of course, who wanted to laugh and wince at the same time. They were _so_ obvious.

Caroline noticed the sudden silence and she pulled back immediately. She ran some fingers through her hair. "I mean, please," she cleared her throat. "Everyone's watched it, come on."

Stefan stared at her for a second and sighed before giving her the phone. She watched the video and covered her mouth to fight back the laughs. Stefan rolled his eyes when the video ended and Caroline couldn't help but shake with laughter and the bubbly sound made the corners of his lips flick up.

"You're so annoying."

"Is that your girlfriend?"

Stefan turned around at the unexpected voice. Sarah was leaning against the table of the kitchen with folded arms.

"Sarah!" Ellie got to her feet, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Stefan frowned. "When did you arrive?"

"Do Zach and Gail know you're here?" Nick asked.

"Relax, relax," Sarah said. "You guys really thought I wasn't going to skip college to come and see Ellie? What kind of people are you?"

Sarah hugged her grandmother. "I'm glad you're okay, Ellie."

"I'm stronger than each one of you, don't worry, baby."

"That's true," she nodded at Damon and Bonnie. "Hey, guys. I can't believe you were watching Stefan's poop video without me."

Stefan snorted as Sarah hugged him.

"Please, don't start."

Sarah laughed as she pulled back. "So," she looked at Caroline, "this is..."

"Caroline, the new one," she ventured.

Sarah opened her mouth in surprise and looked at Damon. "Ooooh, _Caaaaroline_."

Damon smirked and nodded at her. Stefan cleared his throat. He really needed to distract everyone from this situation.

"Um, let's set the table and I'll make some dinner."

Bonnie groaned. "Yes, please. I'm starving."

Sarah tangled her arm with Caroline's. "Stefan told me you're a journalist. And your main interest is on feminism and all that. I'd love if you gave me some advice because I'm studying the same major this year."

"Oh, really? Girl, I have _a million_ things to tell you, then."

Stefan watched them with a frown and lifted a hand, trying to draw their attention. "Eh, girls?"

"I have so many notes, I can give them to you if you want."

"That would be great."

They sat on the couch and Stefan pressed his lips together.

Sarah pointed at Caroline's dress. "I love your dress."

"I _love_ your shirt, where did you buy it?"

Stefan dropped his arm and sighed, defeated.

* * *

Bonnie, Caroline, Damon and Stefan arrived home the following night.

"I suggest we order pizza!" Bonnie said.

Damon nodded. "Let's do it".

Stefan greeted Oreo and Caroline stared at him with a longing look. He opened the door of the terrace to let the dog out and went out with him. Caroline followed them a few seconds later. Stefan was watching the streets, the city, the lights.

She stood next to him. "Hey, you okay?"

Stefan nodded. "Yeah, I just needed some fresh air... These days have been—"

"Exhausting? I know."

"Look at the bright side, though. My family adores you."

She rolled her eyes. "You exaggerate."

"I don't! Pretty sure they want to adopt you."

"Come on."

"And I'd say they love you more than me."

She laughed and nudged him. "Come on, let's go inside. They're ordering pizza."

"Could we just... stay out here for a little while?" Stefan swallowed and she looked at him with curiosity. "I'm not ready to go back there just yet."

She was kind of surprised by his confession, but she nodded. "Did you just... Did you just admit something that you're feeling aloud?"

Stefan crinkled his nose. "Guess I did."

"Wow."

"Surprised?"

"Yeah. In shock, actually."

She smiled at him and he stared at her for a few seconds, which she noticed. Caroline blushed and averted her gaze.

He sighed and shut his eyes. "I can't keep doing this."

"Doing what?"

He rubbed a hand over this face. "This, Caroline. Who am I trying to fool?"

"Stefan—"

"No, please, just..." he looked into her eyes and she melted at the honesty of his look. "Hear me out, okay? These days, I've been thinking, and I've realized that I'm so, so tired of it. The thinking, the _overthinking_ , actually. What's the point? I just want to do what I'm feeling in the moment, you know?"

Caroline forced her throat to swallow. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and she looked down.

"Look, I'm gonna ask you a question, and you have to promise you won't lie to me."

"Stefan—"

"Did it mean anything to you?"

"Please don't—"

"Did it mean anything?

She kept looking down for a few seconds, biting her lip and fidgeting with her hands. Maybe she was a little bit tired of overthinking too. She sighed and looked at him. "...yes."

Her response threw him for a second and he ran a brief glance over her face.

"I thought you said it meant nothing."

She nodded and couldn't help but lapse into a nervous laugh. "I guess I lied."

Her response warmed him and caused the corners of his lips flick up.

"So... What do we do now?"

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the flicker of hope in his eyes. "Um," she took a step closer to him, "we could... take it slow."

He gave an unconscious step towards her as well. "Slow," he repeated.

She started fiddling with the buttons of his shirt. "Yeah, because," she cleared her throat, "we both know the sexual tension has been off the charts."

"It's been irrationally absurd," he agreed, dropping his forehead against hers.

She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and closed her eyes. "Yeah, and we can't just, you know, give in to that so quickly, we need to be strong and all that."

He breathed her in and nodded. "Okay, let's make a deal then. Avoid the sexual tension for three days."

"A week."

"A week?" he groaned and she smiled. "A whole weak?"

"We really need to test ourselves, because sex is a whole new barrier that we should cross when we're truly ready and sure. Imagine if things go bad and we have to continue living as roommates after the sex."

"Let's forget about that. I really want to kiss you right now."

She pulled him closer and his hands dropped to her sides. "What's stopping you?"

"Our deal."

His nose brushed hers and she gasped. "We can start tomorrow. We can, you know, set the starting day for tomorrow."

He nodded. "That sounds good to me."

She was the one to close the gap between them and press her lips against his. Her shoulders instantly relaxed and she just gave in to what she'd been wanting for a very, very long time. He moved his lips against hers slowly with a smile and she put her arms around his neck.

"Guys! The pizza's here!"

Caroline, much to her annoyance, pulled back by pushing his chest slightly. She gasped for air and opened her eyes. He was looking at her in a way that caused her have tingles.

"Slow."

He nodded. "Slow, true. Even if it's kind of frustrating."

" _So_ annoying."

Stefan couldn't help but smile and Caroline bit her lower lip with one of her own. She nodded at the apartment. "Let's go inside."

"Okay."

Caroline started walking and Stefan followed her with his eyes.

Avoid the sexual tension. Yeah, sure. They could definitely do it.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Hi! This chapter contains mature and explicit language/scenes, as a warning! On the other hand, I'd like to say that I want to keep writing this fic but unfortunately I'm not sure if I should. It's hard to keep writing something when you get no response, comments, reviews or feedback from people to keep going. I feel like I'm writing for nothing even though I know people read it because of the stats. So, please, I'd be grateful if I could get reviews/comments from those who read the fic, otherwise it's like talking to a wall and feeling like I'm doing work for nothing and it's depressing for someone who's trying to share this with people. Of course, I get that you can't always leave a comment or that you're free not to, but it's discouraging to get one comment out of 100ish people who read the fic. Thank you._

 **CHAPTER XI: Giving Up Control**

 _September 2018_

Caroline ran a hand through her hair and let out a long sigh. She knew her subconscious was playing her, because it felt like she'd had like seven dreams about Stefan during the night.

Sex dreams, to be exact.

She was sweating, and then her brow furrowed.

"Why isn't the air conditioning working?"

Damon nodded at Bonnie. "Ask her."

Bonnie groaned. "For the fifth time, Damon, it wasn't my fault."

"Well, it kind of was, considering that something blew up when you turned it on in the middle of the night."

Bonnie's eyes fell into slits as she glared at Damon. Caroline sighed and dragged her feet to the terrace. Stefan was on a ladder, checking the electrical panel.

She slowed down and raised an eyebrow when she ran a glance down his back. He was wearing a jersey, which was sticking to his back due to the heat. She forced her throat to swallow.

He was doing it on purpose, there was no way.

Caroline cleared her throat. "Do you think you can fix it?"

He looked over his shoulder. "Hey."

Stefan smiled at her and her pulse did a little jump. He started to climb down but she lapsed into a high-pitched, nervous laugh.

"Oh, no, no, no," she gave a step backward and Stefan frowned.

He gave a step towards her. "What's going on?"

She lifted a hand to make him stop. "Stop right there. I know what you're doing."

He folded his arms. "Which is...?"

She stared at his strong arms for a few seconds before looking up at him. He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, amused.

"Were you just checking me out?"

"What?"

"You just checked me out."

She laughed nervously. "No, I didn't."

He licked his lips in anticipation and gave another step towards her.

"Stefan, come on."

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Stop looking at me all... seductively."

He scoffed. "That was my normal-looking, stop being paranoid."

She waved a hand around and pointed at the electrical panel. "Anyway, can you fix that or not?"

"I'm trying, but I've never fixed an air conditioning before. I think it has to do with the wires. Seems one of them is burnt."

Caroline groaned and threw her head back. "So, we're dying."

He shot her an amused glance. "Caroline."

"I'm serious, Stefan. Like, what's the temperature today? It feels like it's the hottest day of all summer."

His brow furrowed and he leaned forward. "Did you sleep well?"

She fidgeted and ran a hand through her hair. "Wh—why do you say that?"

He squeezed her shoulder carefully. "You look tired, that's all."

"I do?"

"Yeah, your eyes look—"

"I had sex dreams about you."

Stefan's mouth slammed shut and he pursed his lips, amused. He held her gaze for a beat in silence. "Sex dreams."

"Yes."

"Dreams, as in plural."

"That's what I said."

He nodded, trying not to laugh. "So, uh, what should we do then?"

"Well, I think we should have some rules."

"Uh-huh, let me just..."

He pretended to get a notebook out of his pocket and to start writing. Caroline narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance but waved it off.

"Anyway, so, the air conditioning must be fixed. The temperature isn't helping."

"Uh-huh, air conditioning must be fixed."

"I feel like you should be careful with what you wear. You just can't provoke me all the time."

He looked at her with a slight close-lipped smile. "What about you, then? Those thin pyjamas don't help me either, you know? Never have, actually."

She stroked an imaginary beard. "What do you mean _never have_? You've had a problem with my pyjamas before?"

He raised his eyebrows at her, giving her a _really_ look. She rubbed her forehead.

"You know what? Don't tell me. Next rule: no seductive looks."

"Caroline, again, I'm looking at you as I always have."

"But now it's different!"

"No, it's not. You're making it different."

She sighed and held his gaze for a few seconds. "You're right. I'm, I'm overreacting."

"I'm curious, though. What were those sex dreams like?"

Caroline rolled her eyes with a smile and hit Stefan in the arm. He shook with laughter.

"I hate you."

"Really?"

She looked into his eyes and after a couple of seconds she scrunched her nose. "No."

His laugh turned into a quieter and more intimate smile. He took her hand and pulled him to her...

"CAN YOU FIX THAT OR NOT?!"

Caroline pulled back immediately and Stefan's jaw set before looking at Damon.

"I'm on it."

"It looks like you're on _another thing_ , Stef."

Caroline offered Damon a fake smile. "Ha, ha. So funny, Damon."

"I know," he smiled. "Fix that damn thing."

Damon disappeared into the living room.

"Does he know?"

Stefan shook his head. "No, he's just being Damon. What about Bonnie? Did you tell her anything?"

"Uh, no. I thought that it'd be best to keep _this_ to ourselves, at least for now."

He nodded.

"I'm going to go get some laundry done."

"Okay."

She thought for a second and then pressed her lips against his check for a quick kiss. "See you lat—"

She gasped when he wrapped her wrist with his fingers and pulled her back to him. His nose was brushing hers and he was staring at her in a way that put all her walls down.

He swallowed thickly and then pulled back with a wince. "Maybe we should add _no cheek kisses_ to our rules."

She lapsed into a laugh. "Okay," she winked at him. "See you later."

* * *

Stefan rushed down the living room after his laptop switched off. Bonnie groaned from her room and Damon started shouting nonsense from his.

Caroline widened her eyes, standing in front of the fridge. She'd hold the door of it open to keep herself cool due to the annoying heat of the house.

Bonnie opened the door of her room, fuming. "What did just happen?"

Damon got out of his room and ran towards the TV like a tornado. "No, no, no, no!"

Caroline glanced over the door of the fridge. "What?"

"I was in the middle of a game!"

Stefan pursed his lips and set his jaw. "Really, Damon?"

"What?"

"This is what worries you the most, the friggin' game?"

Damon narrowed his eyes at Stefan. "I'd never reached that level, you idiot."

Stefan gave a step towards Damon and Bonnie stood between them to stop any confrontation. Caroline fought back a scoff. The situation was becoming hilarious.

"We don't have time to fight," Bonnie said. "Stefan, can you fix that or not? I have all my choreography schedules in the laptop."

Stefan sighed. "Bonnie, I know. I have all my writing in mine too."

Damon relaxed his shoulders. "Thank God I work in a bar."

Caroline brought a palm to her forehead as she stared into space with wide eyes. "Wait, so we don't have electricity, AT ALL? I'm almost done with _Handmaid's Tale_."

Stefan's stare slid up to Caroline's. "Seriously, Caroline?"

"Hey," she pointed at him with the spoon she'd been using for her yogurt, "before you get mad, _pissy pants_ , it's for an article I'm writing."

His face softened and he shook his head. Damon was offended.

"You get mad at me but not at her?"

Stefan rubbed his forehead. "Damon, you heard her, it's for work."

Damon snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure that's the _only_ reason."

Caroline hid behind the door of the fridge again and Stefan pretended not to have heard. Bonnie checked the clock.

"Can we move on from all this and get to the point, please? Stefan, can you fix it or not?"

"Guys, I tried, okay? Honestly, I have no idea what's going on."

Damon hummed. "So, what you're saying is that you're useless."

Stefan looked at Damon from the corner of his eye. "That's funny, considering you're stupid enough not to even try. Why? Oh, yeah, because you know nothing about all this."

Caroline giggled as she kept eating her yogurt.

Bonnie was frustrated. "I'm gonna go door by door and ask the neighbors if they have the same problem."

"Good idea," Damon clapped his hands and then glared at Stefan. "At least _someone_ is suggesting solutions."

"Get out of my sight, Damon."

"Gladly."

"Come on, Damon," Bonnie grabbed his arm. "Come with me."

When the door closed behind them, Stefan let out a long, relieved sigh. He approached Caroline and stood behind her, staring over her shoulder.

"I was this close to kill him."

Caroline snorted. "Sure."

Stefan's brow furrowed. "Hey, I would have."

She giggled and threw her head back to rest it on his shoulder. "I'm miserable."

He pursed his lips, trying to fight a smile. "Why?"

She waved a hand at the fridge. "All the food, all the stuff," she turned to him and grabbed fistfuls of his shirt. "I can't live like this, Stefan."

He chuckled. "You're so dramatic."

"Stefan, I'm completely serious," she put a little bit of yogurt in his mouth without warning and he almost choked. "See? It's not cold, it's warm. Yogurt can't be warm!"

He coughed. "You almost kill me."

She lapsed into a laugh and tugged his shirt. "I'm serious!"

He touched his throat. "I am too."

"What are we going to do?"

Stefan pursed his lips, trying not to laugh. She looked miserable. "What if..." his arms eased around her waist, "we lock the door so that Damon and Bonnie can't come back and we have the apartment to ourselves until the end of the world?"

Caroline laughed and her hands slid up his shoulders. "I mean, it's a good idea. Though poor Bonnie, it's not her fault that Damon is, you know, Damon." Her face lit up. "Hey, let's play charades! I need a distraction."

She took his hand and pulled him to the living room. Ten minutes later, after a game of charades, they were both laying around on the floor. Oreo was lying on Caroline's stomach, sleeping, or trying, at least, and she was petting him.

"Where are Bonnie and Damon? It's _so_ hot, I truly am dying. What if I melt?"

Stefan ran a hand down his face. "Caaaaaroline."

"I'm serious, like, I'm sweating."

"Well—"

"What if we have to stay like this for days?" she scoffed. "No way, right?"

"I mean—"

"Seriously, is it just me or this heat is destroying lives?"

"Just take it off."

Caroline's brow furrowed as she stared at the ceiling. She glanced at Stefan, confused, and put Oreo down on the floor. "Um, okay...?" she grabbed the hem of her shirt to pull it up but Stefan looked at her, surprised.

He stared at her for a second before looking down and pursing her lips. "Caro—no, no!" he waved a loose hand around. "I just meant Oreo, not your..." he swallowed the tightness of his throat, "clothes."

She widened her eyes in realization and pulled the shirt back down. "Oh," she blushed and bit her lower lip for a second before releasing a nervous laugh. "Sorry, I just—"

He nodded quickly with a thin-lipped smile. "I know, I know."

A brief silence fell over them and Caroline decided to look at him from the corner of her eye. He seemed lost in thought, looking away. She knew how difficult this whole situation was being to him. It was to her too, trying not to give in to her wishes.

She sighed and pushed herself onto her feet. "Get up."

He looked at her. "Huh?"

"Remember when you helped me with that bar job?"

He offered her a humorless smile. "Kinda hard to forget."

She rolled her eyes and took his hand to pull him up. "I told you I'd watch one of those aliens movies with you as a thank you."

He shook his head. "Caroline, you don't have to do it. Besides, it's been months and—"

"But I want to do it. Just... show me the most nerd you."

He waited for her to regret her decision for like three seconds before he pumped his fist in the air. "Victory!"

Caroline giggled. _This idiot_.

"Let me take my laptop, I have some movies saved, and some battery left. We can at least start one."

She nodded. "Okay."

Five minutes later, they were on the couch, sitting next to each other with the laptop on their laps, despite the heat. Apparently, they'd forgotten about it.

Caroline pursed her lips in an attempt to not mock him, but Stefan glanced at her and noticed her face.

"Stop laughing at me."

She tossed a frustrated hand up. "I'm not!"

"You think I don't know everything about you? I know you are."

"I just can't believe you're into this stuff so much. Like, look at your face."

"I'm just enjoying the movie."

"You're not just enjoying it, you're savoring it. _Adoring_ it."

His lips flickered with humor. "Shut up."

She giggled and eased into him, relaxing her shoulders and her whole body against his frame. He noticed and warmed up at the sensation of having her so close to him.

"Someday we should do something you like. We could go to one of those fairs of different food and handmade stuff that you told me about."

"You remember that?"

"Yeah," the hand that was resting against the back of the couch eased into her hair and he started to play with a lock unintentionally, "or we could go and visit the falls that you wanted to see in Virginia."

She threw her head back to look at him and he gazed lovingly at her with a little smile that made her pulse trip.

Caroline sighed, helpless. "I love when you look at me like that."

"Like what?"

She brushed his cheek with her knuckles and looked into his eyes. "Like _that_."

He hummed. "Much better than my stupid attempts at flirting?"

She grinned. "Those were hilarious."

His lips twitched. "That was a disaster."

"Come on! It was funny. Okay, use your flirting skills on me."

He winced. "Are you seriously going to make me do this again?"

She nodded, impatient. And he sighed at the excitement of her face.

Stefan's hands turned into finger guns. "Hey there, want to participate with me to do the _nasty_? Wink wonk."

He smirked and winked at her and she pursed her lips, trying really hard not to lapse into a laugh. But she couldn't help it.

"Oh my God," she covered her face with her hands.

"I told you it was bad!"

"Who taught you that?"

"I have no idea."

"Is it weird that I think that would work on me?"

"I was hoping it did."

She shook with laughter and his smiled widened. They remained like that for some time, staring at each other in a silence that was becoming too intimate. A shot of adrenaline flared up Stefan's body and he swallowed the thickness of his throat. She looked down at the laptop and cleared her throat.

"Let's try to keep watching this, we've missed the last fifteen minutes."

But what actually happened was that they fell asleep together in the couch, and when Damon and Bonnie came back, drinking lemonade, they froze at the scene.

Bonnie nudged him. "Hah, look."

He winced. "It's so hot, how can they be so close to each other?"

* * *

Bonnie cleared her throat as she sank into the couch next to Caroline, who was checking her emails.

"So."

Caroline glanced up at her with interest.

Bonnie smirked. "Aren't we going to talk about the position in which you and Stefan woke up on the couch?"

Caroline darted her eyes and fiddled with her phone. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on!" Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You were there sleeping against his chest and his arms were around you and you two seemed to be in a rom-com."

Caroline snorted. "Bonnie."

"What?" she laughed and nudged her. "I'm serious! It seems you two are closer than ever after the Marty slash Valerie thing and everything that happened with Ellie. It's been almost a year since you met!" she tossed a frustrated hand up. "What are you waiting for?"

She laughed nervously and pushed herself onto her feet, shaking her head in denial. "Isn't it great that the electricity is back? There's light again, the fridge works..."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at her as Caroline walked backwards toward the bathroom.

"We can use our laptops, the TV..." she waltzed into the bathroom and let out a long breath.

"Everything okay?"

Caroline jolted up at the sudden voice and turned around, bringing a hand to her chest. "Don't do that!"

Stefan grinned. "Do what?"

"Scare me like that!"

He pursed his lips, trying to fight back an amused smile. She then realized that he was only wearing a towel, hanging from his hips. He'd just taken a shower.

She was still in place, standing there just watching him, distracted. He was trying to fix his hair and he looked at her through the mirror due to the silence.

His eyebrows went up, a warm flare taking over him. "You okay? You just went radio silent there."

She glanced up, biting her lip. "Huh?"

He sighed, smiling, and nodded at the shower. "Do you need the shower?"

"I do, actually."

Stefan nodded. "I have to shave. Do you mind if I...?"

She widened her eyes in realization. "Oh," she cleared her throat and waved a hand around. "No, of course not. You can stay, we're not going to jump each other's bones just because I'm taking a shower and you're shaving just right next to me, right?"

Caroline lapsed into a nervous giggle and Stefan shot her an amused look. Her mouth formed a flat line.

He tried to swallow the amused tone of his voice and opened one of the cupboards. "Anyway, do you have any idea where the shaving cream is?"

She crossed her arms. "Right there, you're almost touching it."

"Got it."

Stefan started to spread the cream all over his cheeks, jaw and chin and she glanced away, fixing her stare on some undefined spot. His brow furrowed at her attitude and he shot a glance over his shoulder.

"Caroline."

She didn't look at him. "Huh?"

"You okay?" he repeated. "You seem pretty distracted over there."

"Just thinking."

She was a little bit tired of measuring every step or move she made. She just wanted to lose control for a while, to be able to do the things she'd normally do.

Caroline approached him and snatched the shaving cream from his hand. "Let me do it."

"What?"

"I've always wanted to do this, seems therapeutic."

He scoffed. "Therapeutic."

"Uh-huh."

She took his hand and pushed his shoulders down to make him sit on the toilet.

"Are you sure you want to—"

She narrowed her eyes at him as he gave her the razor. "You don't trust me or what?"

"I mean," he cleared his throat, "considering you broke my wrist last year, I'd say it's normal for me to be scared."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile. "Just... let me try, okay?"

She dropped a leg on either side of his hips to sit on his lap and a change flickered across his face. His mind went blank and he felt his skin heat up. His blood was buzzing.

They exchanged a quick look and Stefan's stare dropped to her mouth.

"Okay," she cleared her throat, "here I come."

She started to shave him and the heat and proximity of her body made him relax unexpectedly. He pulled back and hissed.

"WHAT, did I hurt you?"

He shook with laughter. "I was kidding."

She tapped her feet with impatience and sighed. "You're a jerk," she grabbed his chin to get him steady.

His hands dropped to her waist instinctively, and he rubbed her sides with his thumbs under her shirt without thinking. Suddenly, she burst out laughing and he frowned.

"What? What did you do?"

"Nothing, I—I just—" she giggled. "You look like Santa Claus with the shaving cream, that's all."

"Santa Claus is fat."

"I mean," she giggled and dropped a hand to his stomach. He felt butterflies inside, "you're growing a belly."

He gasped in shock, pretending to be offended, which made her giggle even more.

"You're so rude."

"I was kidding!"

"As if you weren't the one that's always eating."

"Hey!"

"You're _always_ hungry."

"Lies."

"Yeah, sure. Be honest, is there anytime you're not hungry?"

"Yes!"

"..."

"What?!"

"When?"

"Well, um," she pursed her lips, thinking. "When I'm eating, Stefan, duh."

He shot her a slight close-lipped smile. "You're impossible."

She continued shaving his stubble and a brief silence fell over them. An intimate, not weird silence. He couldn't help but stare at her with a lingering look and when she noticed, she bit her lower lip.

"Stop staring at me like that."

"I can't help it."

"Yes, you can. You did for a long time, remember?"

He hummed as he kept running his thumbs along her skin. "Did you really not notice how I looked at you?"

She glanced up. "I... I guess I wasn't sure if I was imagining things, or if... the lingering looks were there."

He snorted with a smile. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

She lifted his chin a little bit and he stared at the ceiling.

"Did you, um... Did you have feelings for Marty?"

Caroline looked at him with raised eyebrows. "And _I'm_ the blind one."

He chuckled. "I'm serious."

She sighed as she wiped the rest of the shaving cream with a towel. He looked at her with curiosity.

"No, I was just trying to..." she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Avoid you, I guess."

He scrunched his nose. "We're such idiots."

Caroline laughed and dropped her hands to his shoulders. "What about, you know, Valerie?"

"Didn't the timing give me away?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

Stefan scratched his jaw. "Well, I started hanging out with her right after you started going out with Marty, so..."

Caroline snorted. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I... I don't know," he pulled her closer instinctively. "I guess I was scared."

"Of what?"

He shot her an obvious look. "Of you not feeling the same way, I think."

She blushed and dropped her gaze to his chest. She couldn't believe all this was happening.

"Truth or dare?"

She looked up, confused. "What?"

Stefan grinned and put an arm around her waist. "Just pick."

She sighed, exasperated. "Truth."

"Do you want to kiss me?"

She rolled her eyes with a little smile and shook her head. "Dare."

He leaned in until his nose brushed hers. "I dare you to kiss me."

"Never have I ever—"

He shook his head as he threw it back. "That's not the game."

She laughed and the corner of his lips twitched in response. She let out a long sigh as she put her arms around his neck.

"Is it hot in here or is it just m—"

"It's you, definitely you. You're literally on top of me. It's like an oven down here."

She snorted with a laugh. "You know? It feels good," she swallowed the thickness of her throat and waved a hand between them, "this. You and me."

He leaned forward again until he pressed his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes and breathed her in. "I know."

She felt him getting closer but he stopped when he was about to press his lips against hers. Stefan pulled back slightly and she opened her eyes.

"You were going to kiss me."

He sighed. "Yeah."

"But you didn't."

He nodded.

"Why, and why not?"

He rubbed his neck. "Why? Because I always want to kiss you. Why not? The rules."

"We didn't say anything about no kissing in the rules."

"I know, but..." he looked into her eyes. "I don't think I'll be able to stop if I do it."

They breathed each other in for a few seconds before he gave her thigh a little squeeze and her whole body tensed. They weren't moving too fast, were they?

No, she was overthinking.

He leaned down and began to suck at her neck gently, making her keen under his touch. "Is this too much?" he whispered against her skin, making her shiver.

She shook her head, smiling.

"Tell me if you want me to stop."

But she didn't want him to stop. Ever.

She tilted her head to one side to give him more access to her neck and she grinded into him.

He cursed under his breath and kissed her, hoisting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her back hit the shower screen.

"We shouldn't be doing this," he whispered between kisses.

"Yes, we should," her hand flew up to his neck to pull his mouth back onto hers.

He pulled down one of the straps of her top as he ran his fingers down her shoulder. His lips reached the skin of her neck again. "I just—I want you so bad." The grind of her hips against his made him moan against her neck. "Caroline..."

His lips caught her mouth once again and she shot a hand out to open the shower screen blindly. She found herself up against the wall of the shower and their impatience and clumsy hands turned on the tap.

Water started to fall over them but they didn't care.

He pulled back to look at her, trying to get some air. "You've got too many clothes on."

Her chest was moving up and down very fast. "I know."

"Are you sure you want to do it in the shower? We could slip."

She started to pull up her top and he helped her take it off. He forced himself to swallow and she leaned forward until her nose brushed his.

"Let's not think about it."

A stream of cold water got them soaked suddenly and they hissed at the same time, jolting up.

Caroline gritted her teeth. "Damon!"

It was always him.

"I hate when your brother turns on the tap while someone's taking a shower."

Stefan sighed and put her back down. They stared at each other for a few seconds, watching the mess they'd become in less than five minutes.

He rubbed his neck. "We almost crossed the line."

"Yup."

"I couldn't think of anything else."

She turned off the tap. "I know."

He ran a hand over his face. "This is killing me, Caroline."

"Me too."

He stared at her and she held his gaze as they shared a moment of mutual understanding. This was being hard to the both of them.

He sighed and ran his thumb along her cheek. "I'll let you take a shower."

She leaned against his touch and shot him a soft smile. "Hey, at least you've showered twice!"

He scoffed with a smile and pressed his lips against her temple before getting out of the shower.

She followed him with her eyes and she tapped her fingers against her thigh. This was actual torture.

* * *

Stefan tapped his feet against the floor and ran a hand over his face. He slid it down to rest his chin on it.

He took his phone and opened Caroline's thread of texts. He tapped his fingers against his mouth and pressed his lips together.

He typed a _hey_ but he set his jaw and dropped the phone on the bed to massage his temples.

He lapsed into a bitter laugh. "I'm an idiot, she's right there."

Stefan took a long breath and pushed himself onto his feet. He disappeared into the hallway and started to pace around, his gaze fixed on Caroline's door.

He looked around to make sure no one was around before lifting a hand to knock on the door but pulled back when he heard a pair of feet approaching him from the kitchen.

Bonnie frowned at him. "What are you doing?"

"I was—I was getting a glass of water."

She narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious, but she waved the feeling off. "Can you talk to Damon tomorrow? He's eating all the waffles, like he'll take them to his room in the middle of the night, that piece of—"

Stefan nodded. "I will, I will."

"I don't think he'll actually listen but maybe if we all go against him, he'll stop even if it's just so that we leave him alone, you know?"

"You're right. That tactic has worked before, so let's try it again."

She offered a smile. "Thanks, Stefan."

They remained quiet for a few seconds, looking at each other.

Stefan pressed his lips together and nodded at his door. "Well, I'm going to bed."

"And your glass of water?"

"I just remembered I have a bottle in my room."

She nodded. "Okay."

He tapped his fingers against his stomach. "Oookay..."

Stefan returned to his room and closed the door. Bonnie shrugged and headed for her room.

Caroline opened her eyes when she heard the doors closing and all the lights of the hallway and living room going off below her door.

She bit her lip and started to fiddle with the hem of her nightgown. She grabbed her phone and checked if she had any messages. She opened Stefan's texts to see if he was online.

Maybe he was sleeping, or working on stuff, or reading.

She ran her hands through her hair and snorted. She was Caroline Forbes, she always did what she wanted, no second thoughts.

She got out of the bed and disappeared into the hallway. She leaned against her door, looking ahead. Stefan's door was opposite her. His room was so close yet it seemed so far away.

She chuckled nervously. "Why am I shaking? I'm so stupid."

She took her hair to put it all over one shoulder. She took a deep breath.

"Let's do this."

She gave a step forward just when Damon came out of the bathroom. She froze in place and his brow furrowed at her.

She waved a hand. "H—hey."

"What are you doing there, blondie?"

"Uh?"

"Why are you standing there with the lights off?"

"Oh, I—I was going to the bathroom, actually. What? A girl can't pee? A girl can't just use the toilet and—"

He winced and lifted his hands. "Okay, okay, enough info!"

She pressed her lips together and cleared her throat. He eyed her for a second and his face lit up.

"Wait a second..."

Oh, no. "What?"

He shot her a smirk. "You sure you were going to the bathroom?"

"Where else I'd go?"

"I don't know," he stroked his chin, "Stefan's room, maybe?"

"Hah, hahahahaha, so funny, Damon. So funny."

"Are you getting nervous?"

"No, I'm just annoyed by you. You should be used to my hate towards you by now."

"Hm."

She rolled her eyes. "You're so annoying that I don't even feel like peeing anymore."

"Uh-huh."

Caroline gave him the middle finger and came back to her room. She stayed next to the door, paying attention to the movements behind. She heard Damon closing his door after a few seconds and she opened hers again.

"I'm so done with him, I'm just so done."

She kept rambling as she walked over to Stefan's door and lifted a hand to knock when it suddenly opened.

His brow furrowed and his mouth opened in surprise. "I—I was about to go to your ro—"

She lifted her hands to cup his face and pull his mouth to hers. He was slow to respond at first due to the suddenness of the kiss, but his lips started to move slowly against hers and then he dropped his hands to her waist to pull her closer.

She walked them into his room as she dropped a hand to the hem of his shirt to start pulling it up. Stefan squeezed her waist under her top and shot his other hand out to close the door.

"I—I can't believe..." he slipped a kiss as she took off his shirt, "... this is happening."

She smiled against his lips and he pressed his body into hers with another smile of his own. His hands slipped beneath the hem of her nightgown and pushed it up. He pulled back to take it off completely and they laughed at her dishevelled hair.

Stefan leaned down and kissed her again. Her teeth grazed his lower lip as he started to pull down his sweatpants. He eased her into his bed, mouths crashing and teeth biting each other's lips with yearning.

Caroline yanked off his underpants. He climbed on top of her and she felt his stiffness rubbing against her thigh. She put her arms around his neck to pull him to her even closer.

But he pulled back carefully and started to kiss down her frame. When he reached her underwear, he started to pull it down. She watched him, her chest rising and falling frantically due to the anticipation.

He lifted one of her legs and buried his head between her thighs. A sound emanated from her throat and it burned his ears. She buried her hands in his hair, her legs spreading with instinct.

"Right—Right there."

Her eyes shut at the sensation and she threw her head back. If he kept going like this, she was going to come undone. She switched positions and ended up on top of him.

She started a slow movement to grind her hips against his. Stefan moaned and set his jaw, watching her carefully. She kissed down his chest and her hand slid down to palm his stiffness. She started to work the length of him and his eyes slammed shut.

Caroline was truly making a number of him.

He put his arms around her waist to switch positions and held her hands to slide them above her head. He grinded his hips against hers, looking into her eyes, and Caroline wrapped her legs around his waist to pull him forward. He dropped a hand to squeeze her thigh and leaned down until his nose hit hers.

"Hey," he said with a nervous smile.

She offered one of her own. "Hey."

He swallowed the thickness of his throat.

"You look beautiful."

Her pulse tripped. She honest to God didn't know how she'd been so lucky with him. She cupped his face with a hand and pressed her lips against his slowly. She could tell he was nervous.

He sighed against her lips.

"Don't stop."

He opened his eyes to look at her in a way that melted her heart. He dropped a hand to guide himself into her and began to slowly thrust into her. She opened her mouth and gasped, spreading her legs wider, which made him move into her deeper.

He buried his face in her neck and moaned. "Oh, God."

Stefan started to rub her clit and she bit her lower lip, trying to control herself as he started a slow pace. But then he went faster and pressed his lips against hers.

She was shivering and arched herself against him. He buried his hand in her hair, caressing it as if it was pure gold. He knew he was getting close to a flashpoint and switched positions again.

Caroline was on top of him, straddling his hips, and she lowered herself onto him. She held one of his hands to put them over his head and interlaced their fingers. Caroline rolled her hips and he groaned against her mouth. She started to kiss down his neck and then sat up to move slowly against him.

He watched her intently, not taking his eyes away from her as she moved, and she rested a hand on his stomach for support. The rhythm fastened and his jaw set, and the frantic pace made her bring a hand to her mouth to cover her sounds.

He sat up, an arm around her waist, and took her hand away from her lips. He wanted to hear her. She pressed her forehead against his as she moved up and down, rocking her hips, and he brushed his thumb over her parted lips.

She was so close that her eyes slammed shut.

His breath was a flutter of air against her lips. "Don't close your eyes."

Caroline opened them in response and looked into his eyes. She began to squirm and he felt her pulse around his length. His mind went immediately blank and breathing heavily, he kissed her deeply, cupping her face with his hands.

She arched her back and panted against his mouth. Stefan brought her closer into him, lowering her onto him and burying himself in her until he reached her deeper spot.

Their moans and gasps mixed together and he started to feel her tightening. He pulled back to cup her face with one hand as he pressed the other against her back. She opened her eyes and looked into his as she came undone with a strangled sound from her throat.

He groaned at the feel of her pulsing around him and followed suit, dropping his back onto the bed with her falling on top of him. Their chests falling and rising as they breathed heavily.

His voice was raw. "So much for following the rules."

She giggled against his shoulder.

* * *

Caroline's first reaction when she opened her eyes was to smile. Her cheek was pressing against Stefan's warm chest, and he was caressing her hair gently.

She lifted her head to look at him. He had his eyes still closed, but he was smiling. She tried really hard not to sigh.

"So, I was wondering."

His smile widened as he stroked her back. "Of course."

"Can I turn that alien toy to face the wall? It's so weird to wake up to see that thing."

He shook with laughter and opened his eyes. "You're so annoying."

She hit his chest, laughing. "I'm serious!"

Stefan's eyebrows rose in realization and shock and she frowned.

"What?"

"You're so frustrating all the time with your perfect eyes! Cute face! And you smell so damn good. Can you just not? For once?"

She giggled and rolled her eyes. "I just woke up."

"And yet you're still perfect."

She shook her head, laughing, and leaned down to his face to press her lips against his chin. And then the corner of his mouth, and then she kissed him on the lips.

He sighed against her mouth, cupping her face with one hand.

"Morning," he breathed against her lips.

She smiled with her eyes closed, her forehead pressing against his.

"I should go back to my room before Damon or Bonnie wake up."

Stefan opened his eyes and scrunched his nose. "Come on..."

"Stefan—"

His arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her frame to him. "Just a little bit longer."

She grinned when he pressed his lips against her neck. "Ste—"

"I think I can convince you to stay."

She tried to pull him away though she wasn't actually trying really hard. "Probably, but then we're gonna be caught."

"Whatever, let us get caught."

She laughed. "I'm serious."

"I am too."

She shivered at the brush of his wet lips against her skin and she closed her eyes. God, he really was good at this.

He switched positions to straddle her hips and she laughed.

"Stefan, we can't just stay here forever."

He leaned down and kept kissing her neck. "How so?"

She couldn't help but tilt her head to one side to give him more access.

"Let's not get out of this bedroom. Ever."

He looked at her and she surged up to kiss him. He cupped her neck and moved his lips slowly against hers. After who knows how long, she pulled back and sighed.

"If you keep kissing me like that I don't think I'll be able to leave."

"Then don't."

She shook her head. "Why did we take so long to do this again?"

He hummed, thoughtful. "Because we're stupid."

" _So_ stupid. We could've started months ago."

"A _year_ ago."

"But you looked at me as if I were a little bit crazy."

"You _are_ a little bit crazy."

"And you were mad at me for throwing a banana at your face."

"Well, you almost got me blind."

She shook with laughter and his lips twitched in response. They heard Damon sneeze in the attached room and Stefan and Caroline exchanged a silent look.

"That's my cue," she whispered.

"Nonononono."

"Yesyesyesyes."

She managed to whirl out of his grip and he pouted at her from his bed.

She looked around. "Where the hell is my gown?"

"I have no idea."

"I'm gonna have to steal your shirt."

"You're very welcome to do it."

"Stop looking at me like that."

He smiled at her longingly. "Like what?"

"Like you'll die or something if I leave."

"What if I do die?"

She threw his underwear at him and he snorted.

"My clothes look better on you than they do on me."

Caroline threw her head back, laughing. "Don't be jealous."

"I'm jealous of my shirt, more like."

She chuckled. "You're so cheesy."

"I thought you liked cheese."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head, and covered her face. "Oh my God."

He got out of the bed and walked over to her. "Do you really need to leave?"

Caroline sighed and dropped her hands to his shoulders. "I want to keep this to ourselves, at least for now. I just..." His brow furrowed at her silence and she waved a hand around. "I don't want to jinx it."

Stefan eased his fingers into her hair and smiled affectionately.

"Sounds good to me."

"See you later?"

He nodded and shot a blind hand out to open the door. She was about to slip out of the room but then walked over to him and gave him a quick kiss.

"Bye," she whispered with a smile.

"Bye."

She disappeared behind the door and Stefan sighed with a stupid smile on his face.


End file.
